Drabble Cache
by Midnight E Siren
Summary: Many stories go unsaid, and some are told until their meaning is gone. Dark tales of betrayal and warm family memories. These are the stories you didn't know, sometimes memories are stained red and dreams come true. When you find yourself in the dark all you have to do is look for the light and trust it will save you, just remember that not all that glitters is gold. Everyone lies.
1. Follow Me

**Follow Me**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_Set about sixty years after Jack is raised by MiM/_

The night was cold and quiet, and North was taking a nice stroll through the sleepy village of Burgess. He'd heard rumors about a nasty little spirit that had moved in over the last decade, there had been drownings, children and adults alike were tricked deep into the woods and left there to freeze to death. It had been ten years since the rumors started, he'd heard of an ice spirit wandering the woods, and it always kicked up a huge storm every time he passed through the village but once the stories of people being taken by the woods reached him he knew he had to take action. His duty as a guardian was to protect the children of the world, and if this spirit was harming them North would have to stop it. He was not such a fool as to go alone, he had asked Bunnymund to join him and almost laughed when they reached Burgess as the rabbit began complaining of the sharp cold if not for the seriousness of their mission.

Bunnymund stood at over six feet tall, with blue tinged fur that had wild designs imprinted in the soft pelt, leather belts wrapped around his chest and waist holding brightly colored eggs and a twin pair of boomerangs. Large feet tapped against the ground nervously at the quickly worsening storm around them, long ears perked up to every small sound under the roar of the wind, his fingers twitched towards the bits of wood that served as his weapons. North was even taller than Bunny, with a thick build as if he'd lived in the mountains for a very long time, a white beard, mustache and a long ponytail that stretched down his back. Kind blue eyes were hard with concentration as the large man pulled out twin blades cautiously and turned to his furry friend.

North was bundled up in his red coats and hat while Bunnymund only had his thick fur to shield him, the wind blew hard and cut through both their coverings like they didn't exist at all. "We must quickly find this spirit, Bunny, else we lose more children to it." North yelled over the raging wind, breath puffing out into little frozen clouds as he spoke to his anthropomorphic friend.

"A'ight, shall we split up or stick together?" Bunny yelled back, shielding his eyes from the bitter cold.

"It will be better if we are near each other, my friend, if we are completely split up it may be able to trick us more easily." the huge man replied, Russian accent heavy.

They began searching the town first, between all the little houses and smoking chimneys, in all the bedrooms and cellars and every nook and cranny they could possibly search. As time drew on, the wind grew stronger and wilder, it seemed as if the winter spirit had sensed their presence and was none too happy about the intrusion upon it's territory. Suddenly, there was a cry from the forest, North whirled from the spot where he'd been searching the inside of a frozen shed, he heard it again, it was a faint cry through the wind.

"Bunny!" the rabbit was by his side in an instant, bounding through the deepening snow while his ears perked and searching for danger. "I believe our friend is trying to ask us to join him."

Both readied their weapons before they edged towards the edge of the woods, carefully they made their way towards the cries for help, trying to keep themselves from simply sprinting all out into the storm and save the child that had been taken. Over roots and fallen logs they went, everything covered in a thick layer of snow and ice that muffled almost all sounds except those on the wind.

"I don't like this North, " Bunnymund muttered uneasily, twirling the boomerangs in his hands agitatedly. "I don't like it one bit, we could be walking into a trap for all we know."

"We continue forward." the huge red man said solemnly, if need be Bunny could open a rabbit hole and the two would be safe in Warren faster than you could say 'Easter'.

As they cautiously made their way deeper into the wood, footprints became evident, small bootprints like that of a child's and the two decided now was the time to hurry. Their footsteps disappeared behind them faster than they thought possible and even the storm was getting worse, the calls for help were getting closer and closer until they reached a small circle of trees. The cries for help seemed to come from all around, Bunny's nose twitched, desperately trying to catch even a hint of scent under the wild winds. Bunny never expected the ball of ice that struck him hard in the back, he yowled at the freezing water that dripped down his spine and whirled around. He let loose one perfectly arced boomerang, listening to it slice through branches and clip tree trunks until it came hurtling back to his blue furry paw in which he caught it expertly. North whirled as well, searching for the source of the attack when another ball of ice struck the Russian as well, a few short calls had them running in one direction and then sharply turning again to follow the cries for help.

Their target stayed at least ten feet ahead of them at any time, calling to them to hurry and help. All they could see through the storm was a mass of something fluttering through the trees like a cloak caught in a hurricane, no footsteps were pressed into the snow as far as they could see but the cries for help were getting closer. They were also getting more desperate, like time was slipping away and soon there would be no time left. Bunny and North dashed after the voice calling to them, running faster and faster until they stopped in what looked like an old carriage path, long overgrown by the bushes and weeds that coated the sides of the road. The voice was gone again, lost to the wind, a sudden gust brought another ball of ice that Bunny sliced with a boomerang. He was getting tired of the tricks as his fur stood on end with worry for the missing child.

"North! Do you hear the little ankle biter?" Bunny exclaimed, head whipping back and forth across the frozen landscape.

"Alright, I know you can't hear me but if I'd known how stupid you were going to be I would have gotten better help instead of waiting around for you lazy bums!" Bunnymund and North both tried to locate the voice only to be blinded by a whirlwind of snow and wind, flashes of white and brown danced around them as the voice continued on. "Look, I'm sorry, I know you're probably tired and I know that an invisible guide isn't the best thing in the world but if you could just try and listen and just follow me –"

Another snowball found it's bullseye at the back of Bunny's head, making him scoff with outrage and wipe the offending slush out of his fur yet again. He was quickly getting tired of being pelted with snow, and his quick eyes searched the surrounding area critically. Around them a flurry of movement rushed like a frightened bird, the two could only catch glimpses of the figure flittering about. They could not tell what color the thing's hair was, only that it was swathed in a heavy brown cloak that had frost biting at the shoulders and hood. The face was hidden by the cloak's hood and it was moving too fast to get much of a good look until it was already across the way flinging its arms in exasperation.

"All I ask is that sometimes, someone at least tries to follow a few simple clues! How hard is it to follow a bunch of snowballs and yelling?" the figure continued to talk to itself, flailing its arms around and North spotted a long branch with a crook at the end held tightly in its hand. "I mean really!

The figure was pacing wildly behind North in an instant, they'd never seen him move and he continued to berate them like they weren't there. "I go out to the village hoping to find a couple of good people that could lend me a hand and save a little kid, but no! I get grandpa and a friggen –

The whirled to address Bunnymund but the figure's eyes widened comically, now that North could see the boy's face beneath the hood, it was angular and young with icy blue eyes and pale blue lips, the boy looked like he'd been out there for a long time. "O-kay, I have absolutely no idea what you are but hey! It doesn't matter anymore, because of course I try and help and I just end up making _everything_ worse than it was before!" the boy turned in a circle tossing his head back and plopping back into a snow drift when North realized the teen had no shoes and the tips of his toes were a dark blue like they were frost bitten. "Now the kid's gonna die because I can't get an old man and a–a freaking kangaroo to follow me!"

He gestured wildly at Bunnymund before he stood and picked up the crook, wandering off in between a pair of trees. "Guess I have another kid to bury." they heard him grumble quietly, the sadness in his voice was what made North want to stop him but Bunnymund beat him to it.

"OI!" the boy didn't even flinch. "You are _you_ calling a kangaroo ya ankle biter? _I_ am a bunny!"

The boy stopped in his tracks shoulders tensed as he slowly turned on the balls of his bare feet, his eyes were wide with hope but his expression was cautious and guarded. "You can hear me?"

"Of course we can you bleeding ankle biter! Runnin' 'round calling us all kinds of things thinking we can't see you, you know how rude that is? Talking about people when they can hear ya?" Bunnymund yelled over the wind, stepping towards the pale skinned teen as said boy's face split into a wild grin.

"I am so sorry, you have no idea – " his voice was so excited and the wind kicked up again, he turned his head suddenly as if listening to something before he switched back to the two guardians and pointed behind him. "You know what, he's completely right, we're gonna just hold this off until after the kid's safe so if you'll just hurry up before she freezes to death then we can totally get back to this!

The boy dashed off into the woods. "Follow me!" they heard him yell, it sounded almost like he was right next to them the way the wind carried his voice and the two could do nothing else than to follow him.

They thought they'd lost him a couple times, he blended in with the snow and trees with his paleness and brown cloak but they did their best to keep up. When they caught up with him again he was waving them over towards a pile of snow bundled between the roots of a large tree, brushing it away until the earth was showing and a pile of branches appeared. The pale boy pulled open the cocoon of branches to reveal the freezing girl, she was clad only in a medium heavy coat and little animal skin house slippers covered her feet. She was shivering badly and her lips were starting to tint blue as her eyes drooped heavily. With a quick jump the boy was standing over her calling to her almost sleeping form worriedly, he jumped from side to side trying to get her to hear him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't fall asleep, if you fall asleep you won't wake up!" he pranced around her, throwing bits of sticks and small rocks to get her attention but she just huddled into her hole more. "Come on kid, stay awake!"

"Move boy." North ordered, making the pale teen hop out of the way like a bird across the snow, crouching low to the ground.

The large man picked up the tiny bundle and pulled the edge of his coat over her chilled body before he turned back to Bunnymund. "Can you transport her back to the village my friend? You will be able to keep her warmer than myself." he handed the freezing girl to the other and they both watched as the rabbit gave him a thumbs up and tapped his foot against the ground.

A breath of warm air swirled in the wind as Bunnymund dove down into it and the two remaining watched as it closed up behind him. North turned to the pale boy again, taking in his form, he was slight under the long cloak, it covered him completely and had to be thick enough to keep most of the chill out since the boy wasn't shivering. His pale hands gripped the crook tightly like a security blanket and he could see a tuft of pale hair ruffling in the wind beneath the hood. Again the wind blew making the boy's cloak flutter in the wind as he turned and listened again, North looked at him again while the boy was distracted. Though he stood ankle-deep in snow the boy did not complain of cold, and the cloak now that he looked was coated with a fine layer of frost.

"Come now, we must get you home and warm or you will freeze." North strode towards the boy carefully side stepping the roots where they'd found the girl. "You have done well, my friend."

The boy skittered a few steps back, away from the Russian. "Warm's not exactly my thing, tried it once, " the boy replied, leaning on the branch tiredly. "I don't really like to think about what happened."

"Nonsense, you must leave this place. There is winter spirit causing trouble, making too big storms for humans to handle." North shook his head and made towards the boy again but as he glanced down to step over a root, when he looked up the boy was gone. "Where did he go?"

North searched the woods for the pale boy, trying not to stray too far from the spot he knew Bunnymund would return to. As he searched he came to a clearing in the trees where a pond stood, a large outcropping of rocks stood on one side and trees enclosed the area like a fortress. For a moment the Russian felt as if he were intruding upon someone's home but he shook off the feeling and pushed through the trees. The boy was sitting on the ice near the middle of the pond, clinging to his crook like a life line as he wrapped his cloak around himself. With a deep sigh the boy stood up and paced across the surface of the frozen pond causing panic to surge up in North's stomach before he realized something. Though the boy was huffing no puffs of frozen breath escaped his lips, at first he thought it odd before he realized just who he'd run in to.

The wind blew hard on the boy again making him have to lift an arm to shield his eyes. "Alright! Alright! I get it okay?" he shouted back at it. "I know, okay? I shouldn't get so upset, I shouldn't let my powers get the better of me!

North carefully hid himself behind a large tree as he listened in on the winter spirit. "I thought everyone was out of the woods! I thought it was okay to actually let myself go a little bit, I've been stuck here for almost a hundred years now with _nothing_ to do!"

The spirit turned and stalked to the edge of the pond before whirling around and walking the length of ice again. "But they heard me!" he whirled and spun in the wind as it kicked up his cloak revealing a long shirt and brown vest that clung to his slight frame and brown pants that clung to his legs like a second skin. "They heard _me_, they saw _me_! They actually talked to _me_!"

North's heart pained for the boy, it was obvious that he was the spirit they'd come to eradicate but now that he knew just what exactly they'd been chasing he didn't have the will to stop him. A little winter spirit that no one believed in, and from the looks of it, the boy had been alone for a long time. When he heard Bunny dashing up behind him he held up a hand to stop him, it was obvious to North now. Earlier the boy had said that he would have to bury another child, many children must have me their ends in the woods, they twisted and turned and trapped humans in its grip. It was not he spirit's fault, North could see that the more excited the boy became the more wildly the wind blew, even now the blizzard had calmed with the lack of panic on the boy's face. To see a child die without being able to stop it would be enough to send any weather spirit into a panic, the blizzards were not of malcontent. He carefully stepped from his hiding place, Bunny close behind as the boy continued to chatter at the wind about how they'd spoke to him.

When he saw them he was in mid twist high in the air and he carefully glided down to them landing on the edge of the ice and snow. "Is she okay? Is she gonna make it? Can I see her?" he asked quickly, question after question falling from his lips.

"Come with us my boy." with a flick of his wrist North threw one of his snow globes, watching it crash and transport them in a spiral of lights.

When they cleared, they were in the village. The winter spirit quickly dashed forward to the first house he saw, looking around the window until he spotted the little girl inside. Her parents were carrying her through the house towards the bathroom, catching the wind he hopped along the windows trying to get a better look. Where he touched the windows fern patterned hand prints were left behind, a woman flew around the corner suddenly, clad in only a shawl and her nightgown heading straight for the little spirit. Bunny nearly told him to look out before the woman sank right through the cold creature, neither noticed the other's presence. He reached the bathroom window and watched the parents place their freezing child in a heated bath, hoping to warm her gently. A sigh of relief slipped from the frozen boy's lips as he pulled away from the window.

He pushed off from the ground, catching the wind and landing on the roof top silently, he looked back at both Bunny and North with an excited expression before he was standing in front of them in an instant. "Okay, so she's safe, and you're here and you can hear me and this is just – " he whirled and danced across the cabin's porch, spreading ice and frost as he went in his excitement. "I gotta tell you the last hundred years have been so boring, but now you're here and you can see me and you can hear me and this is just so amazing – "

"Little spirit!" North exclaimed, trying to get the boy's attention as he only continued to talk about how they could see him. "Hey, you!"

Finally the boy stopped and whirled around, excitement still on his face. "The child could have died." North said solemnly, not enjoying the look of the boy when his excitement drained from him. "You must gain control over your powers, before someone dies."

"I did everything I possibly could!" he replied. "You don't know how lucky she was this time!"

Bunnymund hopped forward, pointing an accusing finger at the winter spirit. "Which is why you need to control your storms, if we hadn't come by it would have been too late. You got lucky this time kid."

"I've been trying! You know how hard it is to handle all this?" the spirit snapped, gesturing at all the snow and ice. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to just sit around here, no one can see me, no one can hear me! No matter how much I scream and yell!"

"It is because they do not believe in you." North cut in sadly, blue eyes shot to him filled with anger. "If they do not believe in you then they cannot see you."

"No matter what I do, they don't see me! They call me all kinds of things! 'Old Man Winter', 'Vinter Prins', a cold snap, a blizzard, a winter demon!" he shouted, clearly distressed. "Nobody will listen to me when I tell them my name! None of them will listen, even the Moon won't!"

With a huff the winds surged and carried him away, at first Bunnymund made chase but North stopped him. "He said the Moon would not listen to him anymore."

"That's impossible, " the rabbit griped. "There's no way he would raise such a dangerous thing!"

"Leave the boy be, Bunny, if he wants to stay here then let him stay." North replied sadly, pulling out yet another snow globe. "We cannot make him go."

With that, North threw the globe and stepped through the portal with Bunny. The village went dark as the lights faded, and the winter spirit sat and watched them go high in a nearby tree. He was invisible to all once again, but he'd finally saved one, even if it was only one it made his heart feel a little less like a shard of ice in his chest.

_I am starting this Drabble Cache in hopes of getting some ideas down and out of my head, so if anyone has any interesting ideas just send them my way and I'll try to get them posted. I'm pretty partial to anything but pairings for this series, something about all these characters makes me feel like they wouldn't have any kind of time for relationships and that they don't mind it. So send me some ideas and I'll try and get them posted. _


	2. Before

**Sorry I've been absent loves! With finals and just general stress I haven't been writing much, but recently I have finished this and I'm almost done with a third chapter! So I'll try and get the last bit done sometime this week, Enjoy~  
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**Before**

By: Midnight E. Siren

_Mother Nature is visited_

Mother Nature was a beautiful woman, her skin shone a pretty shade of olive, and her hair twisted in a never ending breeze felt only by herself. She wore no shoes but wore the elements around her body, storm clouds and winds, rock and water, even ice clung to her hem as the elements flowed around her like a loving sheet. Her eyes glowed a beautiful sunset gold, she was kind and cruel, beautiful in her many faults, fleeting and stable yet so mysterious one could not look at her for long. The Mother of the Seasons, the Mother of the Earth, she was called many things and held great power yet she was helpless to stop her children from growing old. There was no way she could protect them from the cruel beauty of the world, but she could give comfort when needed.

Her domain was one that lay deep beneath the Earth, even deeper than Bunnymund's Warren in what some would call the center of the earth. It was here that she rested her tired form, so curious to explore the world yet jaded by its ever changing surface. Sharp rocks hung from the ceiling threatening death to those of lesser mortality, but she held no fear of them, she could hear them speak their soft whispering words. Could hear the water of the earth twist and roil, feel the four winds as they played and soared through the world. From here she could feel the entire world, every heartbeat and voice of her children of the world, the whisper of the trees and rocks. Sometimes, she grew tired of listening, she would retreat into the earth and rest her mind and while the voices never stopped they lessened while she slept.

It was on such a restful day that she felt a new presence in her domain, she rose from her bed of spider's silk and morning mist to investigate, her skirts billowing about her form. Her golden eyes searched out the little presence until she saw just what had invaded, a child no older than seven stood at the entrance of the underground cavern. Surprise was taking her reaction to the child lightly, her realm was hidden deep in the earth where no human should have been able to reach yet here a child stood searching the dimness with wide eyes. She strode forward to regard the child, it was a little girl with flaxen hair, pretty green eyes that sparkled with wonder, and a smattering of freckles adorned her nose. The little girl clutched tightly to the edge of the nightgown she wore with little cats all over it and her feet were bare, if not a little dirty, against the stones.

Mother Nature kneeled before the child, coming down to her level of sight so the little girl could look into her gold eyes. At first the child took a step back, anyone would be nervous when meeting such a powerful spirit, power and intimidation rolled off of her in waves and her swirling locks made her look etherial. A child would be nervous of her, but suddenly the little face steeled and she took the two steps forward that would put her in the woman's reach. The determined look on her face was admirable, others would back down in the face of something so cruel yet gentle, but she was a mother and children were also drawn to her.

'If Jack Frost brings Winter then what came before Jack Frost?' the child asked lips pursed and expression serious as the ethereal woman blinked in surprise.

Not many asked such questions, humans always asked 'why' but never asked the right questions, never asked the questions that were truly important. Yet this child stood before her, asking a question she'd long waited to hear come from the lips of a human, the story laid heavily upon her shoulders, she sagged under the weight of the words and sorrow came to her eyes. For a moment the child looked as if she wanted to take the question back, but Mother Nature simply raised a hand to pet the girl's yellow hair, running her cool fingers through the thin strands. The tale was dark and not for the ears of a child, but she could not deny the child her knowledge, so she curled her legs beneath herself and motioned the child to come closer.

"Before Jack Frost Winter was bitter and harsh, it did not love humans as Jack Frost does." Mother Nature replied. "It was a monstrous thing that could not be quelled, no matter how much blood it drank into it's snowy banks."

Mother Nature remembered the days before the young winter spirit, days when she would find the bones of children and adults alike strewn beneath the trees, frozen stiff or maimed with deadly icicles. Elder Frost was a merciless spirit, it did not care who it harmed or if they deserved such cruelty, it knew nothing but to harm and kill. On many occasions the spirit chased out its siblings, Spring would not cross its path, nor would Autumn stray too near when he wanted to begin. Only Summer could chase it away with her blazing heat, but even she fell to the biting spear of permafrost lodged in its back. No, this spirit was like no other, it held no compassion or pity, it merely lived to destroy what Mother Nature had worked so long to create.

She sighed, sending the child a sorrowful eye as the memories swirled in her mind. "Elder Frost, was its name. Many children just like you fell to him, he hated them more than anything, he hated their innocence, their belief in that around them. It disgusted him more than anything in this world, " Mother Nature turned away from the child, striding over to a small nook in the rocky wall where she kept what few belongings she had from her human life. "It was born from the shadows, the very shadows that took my father from me, Elder Frost and the Fearlings that bring nightmares have a kinship with the other.

"A long time ago, it's eye was caught by a little girl. She was innocent and pure, and he hated her with his entire being, hated her beautiful laughter and playful mind." she continued, pulling out the item she wanted and going back over to the visibly frightened child. "He'd tried to kill her once, she grew sick and fragile and he delighted in her suffering.

"But..." she held out the treasure to the young human, who took it carefully, the boot was made out of leather that had seen the wear of the years but the blade shone beautifully bright. "She had someone to protect her, someone who's light burned even brighter than her own.

"His belief and strength chased it away, and the little girl did not die as it'd hoped. She lived even more strongly now, but it no longer cared." Mother Nature kneeled before the child again, shoulders sagging at the sad memory. "It decided that the boy must die before it could extinguish her light."

"But why would Elder Frost do that?" the child exclaimed, clinging to the boot carefully as to not cut herself. "If his light is too strong it can't go near him can it?"

Mother Nature patted the small human on the head at that, threading her fingers through the fine strands. "No, Elder Frost could not touch the boy, nor could it touch the girl but its hatred of them grew until it was consumed." her face clouded, anger clear on her face, raven hair twisting behind her in a long-lost breeze. "Elder Frost could not bear the thought of the children living, that such bright lights existed in its cold, dark world of winter."

"The two received each a pair of ice skates for their Christmas presents, these very skates." she tapped her finger on the boot that the child held. "And when they went to play upon the frozen lake, it took its chance.

"For hours it lurked beneath the ice, waiting, watching, hoping for the moment when it could strike." she continued, remembering herself when she'd sensed the disturbance that always came with one of its kills, as if nature itself were unbalanced. "And then it began to break the ice beneath them, the little girl was trapped, if she moved the ice would take her but her protector was there."

The young one's face looked relieved for a moment, but her story was not done. "He rescued her from the cracking ice, and Elder Frost grew enraged, it broke through the remnants and dragged the boy down, fear and terror had dimmed his light." she felt her heart pang at the look of horror on the child's face. "I could not bear to let it kill this innocent child, no more children had to suffer, no more pain had to be given.

"As it drug the boy beneath the ice I placed a curse upon it."

_'It With a Soul so Full of Hate _

_And No Pity in Its Heart I Do Plague Thee, _

_In this Light's Heart You Will Be Kept _

_And Suffer For All His Days. _

_For the Children that You Maimed, _

_For the Lights that You Have Taken, _

_You Will Know No Peace, _

_You Will Know No Silence. _

_Children Will Be Your Every Day, _

_And This Curse that I Place Upon You.'_

"Elder Frost laughed, he laughed as if I were a fool. It spoke to me and said, '_The child will die in mere moments, his days will be over and your curse useless, and I will slaughter a hundred more for your insolence!_'" the child before her shook visibly, clutching to the little skate as if a lifeline. "But in that moment, the Moon shone down on the lake and blessed it with His light.

"He pitied the boy, the girl's protector and reached out with his lights to give the boy a gift." her face softened and she pulled the child close to herself, wrapping her arms around the tiny frame. "The Moon said, '_My Child, you have Sacrificed much for the sake of thy sister, and you have been ripped from Fate's own hand by this beast. Your light has even reached my own and for that I bestow upon you this Gift.' _

"It screamed with rage. Screamed and screamed as it faded away, locked into the boy's heart where it could no longer do harm. When the boy woke, he would not remember its horror, would not remember his pain. Such a cruel and yet sweet Gift the moon gave him." the child in her arms piped up, asking her what gift the boy had been given and she smiled ruefully at them. "Immortality, and the power of the very thing that strived to kill him.

"The boy was to be the protector of children, drawn to their every call, to their laughter and their light, everything Elder Frost had hated now he was forced to endure. Buried so deep in his heart, the boy never could hear its screams, could never feel it clawing at its prison walls trying to escape." she released the child, nudging them towards the tunnel from which they'd come. "Jack Frost was born from its hatred, a pure, and innocent protector borne from the shadows that had once consumed it."

"So Jack Frost doesn't know what's inside him?" the child asked innocently, turning away from her path.

"He has always known child, he has always known the darkness that resides in him." Mother Nature smiled sadly, urging the child forward again. "For Winter is the Death of the World, from which life springs forth and begins anew. He has always known that that death is necessary and has always known that the darkness within him will always remind him why he must protect the children of this world."

With that she sent the child on her way, and she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders only to have a new one take its place. To burden a child with such a tale was cruel, but Mother Nature could never deny humans the knowledge they so begged for. That was her curse and her blessing, and like a mother she could not protect her children from the pain of the world only let them learn from it.


	3. Tired

**Okay, so literally I'm just writing these and posting them so they're greatly unbeta-ed and I'm very sorry for that, but I've gotten so much feedback and it makes me so happy! Thank you everyone who's been reviewing and even just following this!  
**

**Tired**

By: Midnight E Siren

_/post-movie/_

A fire roared in North's fireplace, the Guardians had gathered at _Santoff Claussen_ in their downtime to sit and talk together when their schedules did not demand their full attention. It was a peaceful night where Sandy, North, Bunny and Tooth could all just take a breather and relax without worrying about deadlines and just swap stories with their fellow guardians. Their newest member, Jack, had to be given a good deal of coaxing before he'd join them, Winter's Shepard had been alone for so long he still was unused to the attention and noise. After hounding him for what seemed months he'd agreed to join them, Bunnymund had left the Warren shortly after he'd stopped by Jack's pond to remind him that they were meeting up. Jack had begrudgingly told Bunny that he remembered and would be stopping by _Santoff Claussen_ later that night after Tooth was sure her fairies could handle the night without her and Sandy had finished his dreaming rounds.

_Santoff Claussen_ stood tall and proud in its protected valley, lights glowed brightly from it but it was easily cloaked by winter storms and the rock faces that made the buildings look like fallen stones. Bunny didn't have much time to admire the image before the icy wind cut through his spring pelt and chilled him to the bone. Quickly with curses spilling from his lips he bound into the winter haven, dodging past the always busy yetis and the underfoot elves. Planes whirled through the air, and huge furry workers tried to stay out of the path of the easter bunny as he wound his way up to North's guest hall. The upper levels of the great building were filled with the oversized toy-makers, all carefully and painstakingly hand painting, building and arranging every detail of the toys they made. North was forever proud of the creatures he'd employed from the winter wastelands, he'd given them a warm home to return to and all they could eat everyday in return for their hard work.

They'd spent many years together in _Santoff Claussen_, generations of yetis had been born and died there though their lives were quite long to begin with. Wooden floors creaked quietly under Bunny's paws, the wood had an age-old smoothness to it that the pooka couldn't help but appreciate and feel welcomed by. Everything about the Russian's base was welcoming, like it was Christmas all year around and it warmed the hearts of those that tread upon its door. North's private quarters were still abound with yetis and elves, one of the higher levels had been converted into a kind of ballroom. A huge fireplace burned in the center of the far wall, crackling warm and merry and giving off wonderful heat while to the right stood a cozy dining hall on the other side of huge double doors.

A long table was filled with food and drink and Bunny could see elves snatching up snacks and morsels only to be chased off by the yetis. It was almost comical to watch the little creatures come up with different plans to sneak past their larger counterparts.

"Bunny! Welcome to my home!" a loud voice exclaimed just as a yeti threw an offending elf across the room. "How have you been old friend?"

North strode up to his fellow guardian and clapped a large hand on the rabbit's shoulder making him stumble under the weight. "Good, North." he grunted, easing out from beneath the warm touch to go and reheat his frozen paws by the fire. "Stopped by to tell Frostbite to head out here, said he'd be here after Tooth's and Sandy's rounds."

"Good, good! Very good, then we shall gather and begin with our feasting and conversing!" North exclaimed excitedly, suddenly finding the chore of shooing the elves away more important in that moment as he rushed over to help the yetis.

It wasn't long until Sandy joined them, his job of spreading dreams to the children of the world having been accomplished for the night. As per usual, Sandy gave them all a silent hello and began floating around the table full of food, it was only a casual gathering for the guardians but the elves and yetis always tried to accommodate them the best they could out of respect. Bunny's thoughts turned back to the still absent Jack for a moment, a light scowl on the rabbit's face as he greeted the flurry of feathers and smiles that was Tooth. Jack had been a bit distant the last few months, he always seemed edgy and ready to take off at a moment's notice if need be. The teen never seemed to actually sit down anywhere for more than a few minutes at a time, he could have chalked it up to Jack's extended solitude. He knew that seasonal spirits didn't get along with each other, and he knew other spirits got along with the seasonals even less.

As a pooka of easter he himself was familiar with one spirit, Mother Nature herself, she was the only seasonal he'd ever truly spoken to. She'd been kind and gentle but held a strength in her that was fearsome if trifled with and from the few run-ins he'd had with other seasonals it was a kind of trend. A spirit of the seasons was a dangerous thing, mood swings were common, sometimes they could be mild and friendly and then the next they were throwing a tantrum and causing trouble. Not all of them were as volatile as Jack though, among the seasonals the spirit of winter was by far the youngest and therefore the most wild. He'd heard about winter and spring fighting nearly a hundred years prior, the spirit of spring had stopped him the day before Easter to rant to him about the infuriating boy. That had been the year of the great blizzard of '68.

It was a memory that made Bunny's ears twitch at the thought of it, but after he'd heard the boy's explanation for his actions he couldn't really be angry anymore. Apparently Spring had decided she wanted to come early that year and began undoing all of winter's work when the world was due for an extra month of ice and cold. For years Bunny had thought that it was only because Jack had wanted to mess with him, but to know that he'd only been doing his job as a seasonal made it hard for him to stay angry. Spring still held a grudge against winter and the two fought constantly, once Jack had even spoken about Mother Nature having to come in and, for lack of better words, ground them. Jack had been trapped at the bottom of the pond he'd called home and spring to the trunk of the old fallen tree in which she hid through the winter. They'd both been kept there for a decade, Summer and Autumn had to pick up their slack causing a combination of mild winters and slightly too warm springs for those ten years.

Whenever someone brought that up Jack always moped, nearly pouted and grumbled like the child he was that Spring had started it. Though Jack knew the other seasonals they did not mingle together, their run-ins were legendary among the other spirits and mythical beings. People just didn't get in between two of the seasons unless they were in for a fight against nature itself. Speaking of the winter spirit, with a sudden blast of cold air a window blew open in the workshop sending frost and snowflakes through the warm building. Frozen elves slid across the wooden floors and yetis grabbed their precious toys out of the path of the Spirit of Winter. He sailed in on the North Wind, staff in hand and surrounded by the essence of cold that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

Bare toes lit on the carpet, carefully skirting the roaring fire in the corner as he said hello to Tooth and Sandy before making a snide comment at his favorite kangaroo. In moments an argument had sparked between the two as always, but unlike before he'd become a Guardian there was no real ill will behind it. They argued because it amused them most of the time, and simply because they could. When North heard the teen's voice he declared that it was time for them to sit and eat and talk. The Guardians had not gathered in a while, with Tooth, Sandy and Jack's year-round jobs it was hard for them all to meet up but since the battle with Pitch they'd made a larger effort to do so. Inattentiveness had been the thing to give Pitch so much power, with the addition of Jack they'd rediscovered the love of their Guardianships. Each of them were reminded as to why they did what they did, all for their love of children.

For most of the night they ate and drank their fill, while they had little need to they enjoyed the taste of human food and drink. Tooth always found it amusing how Jack would nibble at everything like a bird, he pick up one morsel and taste it carefully as if it would disappear before grabbing something completely different and doing the same again. Jack was one to take things in strides when it came to food, he would eat bits of everything and then give what he had left over to the elves that he harassed so often. They were always exuberant with the morsels he gave them, they'd snatch them up and run off to who knew where to eat them. The faerie suddenly realized she'd never seen Jack eat anything completely, nor had she ever seen the boy truly sleep. Though Jack was a part of their little family now, he was still flighty sometimes and didn't stick around the four of them for long. Three hundred years was a long time to be lonely, and it wouldn't go away in just a few years.

So they did their best to include him whenever winter was not needed in the world, when Mother Nature gave him a break from his blistering winds and flurries. Sometimes Tooth welcomed him to help her faeries gather teeth and even bunny had let the spirit paint some eggs every once in a while. The yetis were not fond of Jack's help, Phil did his best to keep the seasonal spirit out of the toyshop so he wouldn't 'test the toys' every five minutes but it was really futile after a while. While Jack could fly on the North Wind, his yeti friend was barred to the ground. They had great fun in trying to out-fox each other, and usually through some lucky star Phil was able to keep his opponent out. Sandy was much more relaxed about Jack being around while he worked, the two had an appreciation for the other that transcended all else. For years the seasonal had admired Sandy's golden streams and in like the golden man had admired the way the snow and ice looked beneath MiM's light.

Whenever Jack joined the other he would simply rest upon a small corner of the golden platform and watch the sandman reach out to all the children one by one. Jack had always loved the contrast against the inky blue sky dotted with stars, and then the pure white, sparkling snow on the ground as the flaxen streams twisted and swirled through the air. It was a sight that the frozen spirit never tired of, and he tried his best to stop and take it all in when he could. Now, Jack strolled easily through the warm lounge, leaving frosty footprints in his wake as his deep set eyes wandered curiously over the bookshelves that lined the walls. His fingers trailed over the spines, carefully keeping the frost from leaving his fingertips and damaging the pages.

"So Jack, how's Burgess been? Winter just started there recently didn't it?" Tooth asked, flitting over to where he sat curled up in one of the many overstuffed couch chairs.

"Good actually, I got to play with Jaimie for a while the other day, and then the kids tried to ban together and beat me in a snowball war." he grinned tiredly making Tooth tilt her head slightly at the odd expression on her fellow guardian's face.

"Are you feeling alright Jack? You've been awfully quiet today." she inquired, fluttering closer to his face and looking for anything amiss. "You haven't frozen nearly as many elves as you usually do."

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair nervously when the other three guardians turned their gazes upon him. "Just tired." he replied, shifting his gaze to the roaring fire to try and escape the conversation.

North wasn't having any of it. "I do not think I have ever seen you sleep... " he mused stroking his long beard as Bunny twitched his ears.

"Something bothering you Frostbite?" the pooka's ears twisted forward curiously.

"Like I said, I'm just tired." Jack urged them, he was already dealing with a lot and he didn't need the other guardians fretting over him. "Please, don't worry about it."

And with that tone of finality, they could do nothing but drop the subject though they all made a silent agreement to dig deeper when Jack was less touchy about it. The rest of their night together was pleasant, they talked and snacked on cookies and hot cocoa until before long it was time for them to part ways. Bunny had eggs to paint, North toys to make and Tooth could not stray long from her faeries so Sandy and Jack were left to their own devices. Though the little golden man stayed a while longer to entertain their youngest member, with an urging for him to confide in them if there was trouble he flew away to his dream island. Now without the prying eyes of his fellow guardians, Jack let himself relax completely into the welcoming cushions.

His body felt like lead, a fathomless exhaustion settled heaviness that made him not want to move an inch yet he knew he needed to return to his lake soon and finish freezing it. It was thick enough to be walked upon by the children but Jack could never be too sure. A bone-deep fatigue clung to him and his eyelids were like ten-pound weights, while an odd warmth yet not warmth seemed to settle around him. Before long the battle between himself and his eyelids was lost and darkness claimed the frozen spirit.

A few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt before he left.


	4. Cracks

**Cracks**

By: Midnight E. Siren

Joy blossomed in his chest as Pippa sailed to the pond's bank, onto thicker ice that would hold her weight, he rose in triumph ready to throw his hands over his head in elation when a sickening crack resounded through the air. The ice gave way beneath him, darkness swirled around him and muffled his sister's cries from his ears. It hurt. Ice crawled into his bones, made his body seize and expel his breath as if a giant hand had wrapped around him and simply squeezed. His lungs, desperate to fill themselves inhaled bringing water and ice into his core, filling his lungs and stomach with cold and pain.

His body sunk deeper, his clothes dragging him down, betraying him as his lungs filled with more lake water and cold. It creeped into him like a disease, dropped stones of dread in his stomach and his mind scream at him to live. It was fear, it gripped him tight dragged him deeper and the light above his head dimmed as he sank. He was exhausted, everything was cold and heavy, the will to fight was being burned out of him and no matter how he struggled he couldn't stop it. He was going to die...

Something burned inside him again, chasing away the cold for a second, a second long enough to break the surface of the pond. He scrabbled for purchase, his fingers and nails painfully catching the jagged ice, his sleeves froze to the snow and the wind sucked the breath from him. Pippa screamed when she saw him, almost dashed out onto the lake again but with a sharp word she turned and raced home. She would sprint all the way home, their father would come and rescue him before the ice set into his bones. Everything would be okay, he would go home cold and soggy but he would be okay.

Time dragged on, his skin burned at the icy touch of the wind. It sucked the strength from his too-thin limbs, the water around his middle froze and made his body heavier and heavier as exhaustion clung to him like his cloak. His eyes hung like ice laden branches, desperate to relieve the weight from their hold but he could not sleep. He would never wake up again, he wouldn't be okay like he wanted. Slowly, his head became too heavy to hold up, he laid his cheek gently upon the snow and felt his cheek slowly freeze to the ice.

Even if he'd had to the try he could not have moved from his place, ice and snow had claimed him for their own freezing every inch of his body. That burning piece inside him flared, drove him to rip himself from icy chains and claw forward. Another few inches out of the water, the cold seeped away a bit more as that little flicker of light spread to his weary limbs. He would live, the light in him swelled with an unknown feeling, one he couldn't stop and analyze without losing himself. It pushed him onward though, made him sink his fingers into the slush and grip the ice no matter how much it stung his fingers.

Ice clung to his cheeks as did his frozen hair, inside him the light hissed and flickered, losing its brilliance as quickly as it had come. Slowly, ever so slowly it dimmed and sputtered inside him. He clung desperately to it trying to keep its dying embers burning inside him, it would save him and make everything okay. If he could just keep that little light inside him going then he could go home, curl up by the fire with his sister and his parents and everything would be okay. Strength left his limbs again, the little thing inside him dying out to smoldering embers and he laid upon the ice again his body was unresponsive to his screaming mind. The sun had sunk below the horizon, twilight danced around him as if it mocked his desire to thrive and to live.

The thing inside him writhed, and in a tiny, painful voice cried out, '_I don't want to die._'

Mercifully, the ice beneath the frozen boy cracked and sunk beneath his weight dragging him deep into the arms of the swirling waters. For a moment there was panic before an overwhelming peace swallowed him, he would not go home, he would not see his parents ever again. His friends would not laugh with him again, and he would never know if the blacksmith's daughter truly liked him as his friend had told him. But he had saved his sister and that was enough for him.

* * *

_I'm baaaaaaaack! With aaaaaaangst~! Alright everyone, I have RotG on dvd and a brain full of awesome ideas! Get ready for updates! :D Also, I really wanted to play with the act of drowning in this drabble for the fact that I recently had a terrible dream about the time when I almost drowned. An odd feeling made me want to write this down so, here it is. And don't forget kids, drowning sucks. Don't do it. R&R please and I hope you liked it!_


	5. Sleep

** Sleep**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_tag-along drabble with __**Tired**_/

North was busy overlooking the yetis' work when Phil first approached him, the large toymaker was not panicked, but the troubled eyes made him wonder. At first the Russian man thought nothing of it before the yeti garbled something along the lines of 'Jack' and he sprung into action. He'd thought their youngest had left hours ago, he'd seemed to be right on the heels of Sandy when North had left his friends for the night. With an urgent pace he followed the larger creature to the sitting room where they'd enjoyed each other's company, a handful of elves with anxious faces ran up and began hopping around trying to get his attention, pointing wildly. They ran over to one of the overstuffed chairs where a bundle of white hair and blue fabric was curled, frost tinging at the edges of the cushions.

He saw nothing wrong with the boy sleeping, but the number of elves that were gathered around him, some shaking him and others conversing worriedly made him look again. Jack's chest did not rise, he was still as death and his skin was covered in a layer of fine frost. Now on alert North rushed forward, kneeling before the silent form and pressing a hand to the cold cheek. Frost graced his fingers but there was no flutter of dark lashes or twinge of pale skin, Jack remained perfectly still. An elf hopped up on the armrest, helped by its companions, to lift Jack's hand up and let it fall without any resistance. It stared up at him, distressed that their playmate would not wake.

North surged forward, scraping away the frost from his hair and his arms as it continued to spread across the chair. Elves quickly jumped in and scrabbled away at the cold that only crawled up their own tiny arms, North shooed them away before they were completely frozen and shook Jack once more. The ice cracked and littered the floor, sliding off of the pale face as if suddenly warmed.

"Jack, you must wake!" North urged him, eyes wide.

The winter spirit snapped awake, hand immediately snatching his staff from the floor and close to himself. His eyes were wide when they lit upon the large russian man in front of him. As if it had burned him he furiously wiped away the leftover ice that clung to his hoodie and hair. Jack flung himself out of the chair unsteadily, flitting through the elves and yetis so he could continue to chase away the ice that crawled over his body.

"Jack we must talk, " North began, striding towards his younger companion.

"No we don't North, sorry for worrying you but I gotta go." Jack's reply was clipped, North couldn't fire anything back before the pale boy was up and out of Santoff Claussen.

North ran to the window and watched the boy vanish in a swirl of snow, the elves swarmed around his feet to watch their playmate go. Phil wandered up beside the guardian, garbling a question.

"I do not know, but I will find out." North promised him, planning on having a long conversation with the others about this incident.

* * *

A month passed since Jack was caught sleeping in Santoff Claussen, and yet another time had come that the Guardians would gather together. The winter fortress stood proud and tall in the midst of a snowstorm, the old structure made its own creaks and groans but it would hold strong. Tooth was excitedly telling a story about how one of her fairies had spent the day with a little girl after she'd wished for a faerie and Bunny was painting eggs with twitching ears. North and Sandy were only half listening, both of them were waiting and listening to the storm as it grew in strength and rattled the windows. The harder the storm brewed outside the more Bunny's ears twitched and Tooth seemed to talk faster as if she were trying to dispel the tension with her words.

"Alright that's about enough of that," Bunny finally snapped, jumping out of his chair and brandishing his paintbrush like one of North's sabres. "What is going on with this storm? She's about to molt she's so nervous and you two have been staring at the windows all night like you're waiting for Pitch to bust through 'em!"

Sandy looked to the Guardian of Wonder unsure of how to reply. North had told no one about the incident a month ago but it seemed that the little golden man could sense his worries. It was true that he'd been watching the windows, the storm was growing bigger and bigger as time passed and only a certain Shepard of Winter could have been responsible for it.

"Where's Frostbite?" Bunny demanded, uneasy with how the two seemed to be keeping secrets and growing more worried.

"Sandy stopped by his pond earlier to remind him to come didn't he?" Tooth piped in, looking to the Guardian of Dreams.

Golden eyes darted away guiltily before images began appearing over his head, he'd gone to the pond in search of Jack but the boy was nowhere to be seen. He'd looked for a while but was unable to locate him so he'd left a sand message for the winter spirit. The shame ate at him like Pitch's dark sand had, he'd assumed that Jack was off making winter elsewhere for the moment but as he arrived he'd sensed North's worry. Outside, the storm roared with a sudden ferocity forcing open windows all over Santoff Claussen. Yetis shouted in surprise, dropping their projects and rushing to seal them before any more damage was caused.

The north wind surged through the halls of the toy shop, bringing with it ice and snow from the storm outside. With it came a tumble of white and blue, dropped unceremoniously onto the thick rugs that covered the floors. When it was spotted the yetis rushed forward, trying to right the tangle of limbs and staff. They were brushed away along with the snow and ice that clung to him, he pushed off his hood running a hand through his hair as he turned and surveyed the storm raging outside.

"Jack!" Tooth exclaimed, fluttering up to the winter spirit just when another blast of cold air ruffled her feathers and made her shiver. "What's with this storm? It's going crazy!"

"I know, I-"

"There you are Frostbite! What're you doing? This storm's out of control!" Bunny exclaimed from across the hall, North and Sandy close behind as he hopped closer.

"Yeah, I know." Jack replied, the lack of bite in his tone made them all look at him curiously.

"Are you feeling alright, my friend?" North asked him, Jack was leaning heavily on his staff ice clinging to his hoodie like a second cloak.

"Tired. Tired as always." Jack huffed, scrubbing more ice out of his hair as it formed at a rapid pace.

"Maybe you should sleep Jack? You look exhausted." Tooth urged him, landing at his side and placing a hand on his shoulder, surprised when ice raced up her limb.

"If I sleep I won't wake up." Jack muttered, angrily pushing more ice off of himself.

"I think it is time we talk, Jack." North waved a hand for the others to follow, at first Tooth attempted to help the winter spirit but once it was obvious he was having none of it she let him go.

They wound through the halls of Santoff Claussen, passing elves and yetis that looked on with worried faces. The one place on earth that should have always been warm and inviting was tense and full of secrets. North brought them to his personal study, a large room filled with books and a huge desk. On the far side of the wall were the written naughty and nice lists, long shelves of books of every child of christmases before and that of next christmas. As with the rest of North's home everything was swathed in Christmas cheer. Red and gold carpets, toys fluttering through the air and a roaring fire in the corner with huge windows that looked out upon the frozen wasteland of the North Pole filled the room.

Outside the storm obscured the moon and tundras from sight, it swirled angrily and even with the large fireplace going it sent a cold air through the room. Once inside Jack flitted across the room and perched himself on the edge of the large desk, scraping more and more ice from his form. It littered the floor, melting and leaving water spots everywhere as the other Guardians looked at him with worry. He was jittery to say the least, scratching at the patches of ice that slowly formed across his hoodie and pants. Under the scrutiny he pulled up his hood, looking even more annoyed when ice continued to grace the brim of his hood.

"Alright, Frost, what's going on with you?" Bunny demanded, crossing his arms and tapping one foot impatiently.

Jack remained silent, and it only furthered the rise of tension in the room. "Jack, if you do not tell us what ails you then we cannot help you." North pleaded quietly at the winter spirit as the storm outside betrayed his emotions.

"It's really nothing." Jack hissed, not in anger but in almost pain.

"If it's nothing then why don't you want to talk about it?" Tooth questioned, wings tucked behind her as she wrung her hands. "We're here for you Jack, we're a family now."

Jack's shoulders slumped from their hunched posture, his eyes dropping closed as he leaned even more heavily than before on his staff. "Every few decades, " the winter spirit stopped and sighed, obviously uncomfortable with explaining himself. "I get really tired."

"Well that's obvious, mate." Bunny sighed as Sandy drifted over to Jack's side, laying a comforting hand on his arm.

"No like, I get so tired that I can't stay awake no matter how much I sleep." Jack replied glancing down at his frost bitten hands. "It gets to a point where I wake up and I'm covered in ice. I fall asleep at the drop of a hat and then it takes longer and longer for me to wake up.

"I know you guys think that I'm just a winter sprite, that I just cause trouble and blizzards because it's fun." he rubbed his brow, shaking more ice out of his hair as he did. "But I'm actually, _The_ Spirit of Winter. One of Mother Nature's Shepherds and everything, so I'm dealing with all the snow and winter around the world at a constant and you have _no_ idea how exhausting that is."

He glanced upwards at the others looking for any sort of reaction, they all had a new look in their eyes, like a greater respect for what he did. "Terra says that we get tired because all the magic of our season flows through us and only us, it exhausts us... " he sighed. "So every few decades we hibernate, sometimes for a few months, sometimes for a few years. I can never really know, and now that I'm here with you guys and it's hitting me again I don't _want_ to sleep."

"You will fine though, no?" North questioned quietly, sitting heavily into one of the comfy chairs next to the fireplace. "You will wake in few months and be right as rain."

"There have been Winter Shepherds before me though." Jack replied darkly, a panic slowly seeping into his eyes. "They burned themselves out, turned to snow and frost while they were sleeping, it scares the hell out of me."

"What does Mother Nature say about it then?" Bunny asked, shivering when the storm outside thrashed at the windows, taking advantage of its absent guard.

"She says that I need to sleep no matter if I'll wake up or not, " he sighed tiredly.

"Then you will sleep here." North stood up and strode forward to clap the winter shepherd on the shoulder. "You will be in reach of us and we will watch over you and you will be safe."

"That's a great idea North!" Tooth exclaimed, taking off and rushing over to Jack as Sandy nodded his head excitedly. "You can sleep here and we'll make sure you wake up!"

"You guys don't get it, I can't just sleep anywhere." they all looked to Jack curiously. "'_A spirit's deepest sleep is in the bed of his grave._' We have to abide by that, if we don't... that's what happened to the other winter shepherds."

They were all silent for a long time as they let everything sink in, it unnerved them to say the least the idea of sleeping in a grave. "Well then, where is this place?" North questioned, pointing at Jack with renewed fervor. "You are Guardian now Jack, and as Guardian you can always count on us."

"Burgess Pond?" Jack admitted to the shocked faces. "Why do you think I'm always there? It's the closest thing to a home that I have."

For a moment the other Guardians looked to one another, resolved their worries and gave silent agreement. "Then we go to Burgess Pond and you will sleep. We will ensure you awaken again, my friend." North assured the wiry spirit, grin infectious as Jack's own blue tinted lips split into a thin smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

_Alright, alright. Not sure how I feel about this one but hey, it's much better than a few weeks ago! And it's another update~ Two in two days! Woo! And I would also like to thank all of my reviewers for your awesome ideas and all your kind words, you all really give me the drive to continue writing these drabbles. I have a couple more planned out, especially since I'll have one of my drabble buddies over tonight and I'll be able to fire off ideas and see what sticks! Happy reading for now my friends! R&R! _


	6. Damaged

**Damaged**

By: Midnight E Siren

_/set after __**Follow Me**__/_

It had been ten years since Bunny and North had gone to eradicate the ice spirit that was plaguing a small town out in the mountains. Ten years, six months and thirteen days to be exact, and suddenly unlike ever before the town had been turned into an icy fortress. Blizzards were an everyday norm, parents feared their children leaving the house in case the winter demon came to take them away into the woods. They warned them again and again, ignore the whispering voices of the forest or you will be lost in its clutches. Children began disappearing, adults found dead at the cusp of the woods frozen into terrified statues.

When North and Bunnymund stepped out of the portals to the sleepy town of Burgess again, it was like they'd kicked a hornet's nest. At first, the town was silent. Dark, foreboding clouds hung overhead, turning ever so slowing in a spiral of snow and cold. Pristine little snowflakes drifted through the air of twilight, there was no sun striving to paint the sky with its paints as the clouds blotted it out. It was eerily quiet, no birds cried overhead and no animals scurried beneath.

The australian Guardian looked to his companion, pink nose twitching towards the woods as the tension in the air hung over them. "Is too quiet." North mumbled, unsheathing his swords and fingering the hilts nervously. "Something is wrong, Bunny."

"You're telling me, mate." the other guardian groused, suddenly looking towards the sky. "Didn't you say Sandy was gonna be here?"

"Yes, little spirit has been making storms so big that Sandy cannot give the children their dreams." he replied, stepping towards the woods before he was stopped by a golden light. "Ah, when speaking of devil, no?"

He shot a grin at Bunny before they turned to their fellow guardian, Sandman was a small being, round with a kind if tired face. Sandy was completely made out of the golden sand that he wielded and his eyes shone like twin suns, his hair shot out in wild bedhead spikes and they glittered in the half light as he drifted toward his companions. Over the golden man's head the sand swirled into pictures and images, asking the other two if they'd found anything yet.

"Nothing yet mate, but that thing can't be far off." Bunny replied, nodding towards the smaller and keeping an eye out in the growing dim. "We were just wondering where you were actually, this town's too quiet."

Brown wooden houses were heavy with snow and ice, but the warm glow of fireplaces peeked out through the ice covered windows. Though it was weak, with large twitching ears Bunnymund could hear the soft voices of adults putting their children to bed. Mothers washing dishes and fathers braving the outside for a few brief minutes to rescue more firewood from the shed. Smokestacks spat out a thick smog, trying desperately to keep the little families warm and safe throughout the coming night. North ducked his head to glance into the houses, smiling at the snoozing children inside before all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, from the woods came a long moan, the trees creaked and they could hear the wind crawling closer. Bunnymund's fur stood on end, it was a sound that nature should never make. A gentle breeze of wind disrupted the calm, kicking up a flutter of snow and bringing with it a terrible rumble before the wind ripped out of the gloom of the trees. It brought branches and snow and wayward animals that weren't quick enough to escape the destruction flying through the air, sharp and unforgiving. Bitter cold ripped at their cores, tore through their layers with deadly accuracy and sank deep into their bones.

"Holy crikey, that's freezing!" Bunny shouted, clutching at his suddenly too thin fur, already ice crystals were matting the blue fluff at a dangerous pace. "It's trying to freeze us out!"

"We will not let it." North called over the wind, it howled and shrieked overhead ripping at the trees. "Onward, we go my friends."

"We'll never find that pond in this North!" the wind blew harder as if it heard him, rattling doors and windows, in the distance they heard glass shatter. "Can your snowglobes get us there?"

"I can get us close, but we will still have to push through this storm." as North spoke, the wind screamed again.

"Look out!" Bunny shouted, dodging a flying branch that found its home in the side of a cottage.

The torrent suddenly focused around them, a ring of wind curling around them and creating a vortex kicking up snow and ice. They couldn't see the town anymore after a moment, the wall of snow and wind trapped them in a circle. Bunny threw his boomerangs hoping to somehow disrupt the tornado but they were only harshly thrown back at him, the wind swirled harder until slowly their feet drifted off the ground. Still the wind twisted and spun faster, panic fluttered in each of the Guardians as they were slowly dragged upwards into the vortex unsure of what would become of them.

Almost as soon as it had begun, they were dropped back onto the ground, Sandy brandished his whips with a flick of his wrist ready for an enemy to attack. Slowly, the wind receded, dropping its prison of snow and releasing its captives. It let out a low moan, brushing against North's cheek as if exhausted, his blue eyes went wide confused and still on high alert. Bunny made a distressed noise, his fellow Guardians whirled half expecting the giant rabbit to be injured but as they turned they realized his cause for distress. They were no longer in Burgess, the town that had just before hunkered around them was gone, replaced with trees and snow.

They found themselves in the woods where the ice spirit had led them ten years previous, North could still see the little cusp of roots where the little girl had been squirreled away. "Looks like little spirit has brought the fun to us." the russian muttered, he wasn't sure how an ice spirit had the power to transport them but he knew that it was no longer just a small nuisance.

Sandy floated ahead of them, the wind moaning through the branches again as they trudged through the snow and fallen tree limbs. Jagged icicles hung from the trees, some were completely encased in ice while others had been felled by the wind. The storm had left a wake of destruction in its attempt to teleport them, it seemed to have done more damage than what it was truly worth. North pulled his heavy coat tighter to his body, trying to keep the cold from sapping his strength as they reached the edge of the woods.

The frozen pond spread out before them desolate and calm. In the clearing nothing stirred, but the silence that had ensued in Burgess proved to teach the Guardians a lesson about silence in winter. There was something on the edge of the silence, waiting for them to show themselves. Bunny glanced over at North, hoping for some sort of signal but when he only received a nonchalant shrug he let out a long groan. Bravely, Bunnymund stepped out of the line of trees walking out to the bank without incident. His large ears were straight up, twitching at every soft breath of wind or rustle of the trees, the fur at his nape rose steadily as the eerie quiet stretched on.

"Looks like the coast is clear for now." Bunny called, hopping back to meet North and Sandy halfway in case of danger. "Little bugger must have cleared out."

"Why would he do that, Bunny?" North wondered curiously, making his own survey of the frozen pond. "If he teleports us here, why would he not want us to find him?"

"Maybe he's looking for a sneak attack?" he replied darkly, sharing a nervous look with Sandy.

With a determined look, Sandy floated over the water taking an aerial approach to their search reaching out with his golden sand across the lake to 'see' more than his eyes could. It twisted and curled, crawling across the lake and touching everything with its pretty glow. Gold reflected off white, lighting up the snow drenched night that surrounded them, the trees stood in the dark like a barrier but they knew an enemy could be hiding there. Sandy quickly whirled around, floating down a particularly interesting piece of his dreamsand towards what he thought to just be a snowdrift. He waved at the others, calling them over as he pushed the snow away with his hands.

Red caught his eye, bright red right under the layer of fresh snow. Carefully Sandy brushed more snow away, he never expected to be shot across the lake by a flash of blue light. He heard Bunny and North ask him if he was alright, but he focused on his attacker with his sand. The whips formed in his hands again as his enemy rushed across the lake, Sandy struck surprised when the dark figure darted beneath him and into the rocks behind.

"Sandy, you alright?" Bunny called to him, he nodded his head and pointed at the alcove that their quarry had darted into. "Stay put, North and I'll be there in a minute."

Sandy nodded again, floating down onto the snow and noticing the dark red droplets that trailed towards the hole in the rocks. His head tilted to the side in confusion, he hadn't made contact when he'd lashed out at the spirit. Carefully he floated closer, holding up his hands in surrender when he saw the figure thrash at him. A wooden crook shot out of the dark at him, it hung close to his nose humming with power as frost raced up and down its length. The faint glow from the staff illuminated the shadowed little crevice, a panic filled face stared out at him with wild eyes mostly obscured by a hood. When he heard North and Bunny rushing up behind him he motioned with his hands for the spirit to stay put before flying over to where the two larger Guardians were rushing to his aide.

Quickly, Sandy twisted the sand over his head again, motioning for them to stand back, to look at the blood trails. The spirit was injured, but how badly he couldn't find out until they stayed back long enough for him to look. When he was sure that they would stay put he slowly made his way back to the spirit's hiding place, noting how ice had begun to form a wall between them. He waved his hands and shook his head, trying to show himself as a friend and not a threat. Snapping his fingers Sandy brought up his sand, forming pictures of snowflakes dancing in the wind. Unhindered the ice crawled around the spirit, desperate to protect itself.

Sandy backed off, making more snowflakes and looking at his target in the glow of his art. All he could see were long limbs, terrified eyes and a long cloak, red coated its legs and splattered across its cloak. The ice stopped forming in a protective cocoon as the spirit calmed down, the golden man smiled and urged him on floating up and making more and more snowflakes. He tried coaxing the spirit from the crevice, reaching out a hand to it, at first he'd thought his help would be met with hostility but there was nothing. Suddenly the spirit flinched, a howl echoed through the clearing and the alcove of the spirit exploded with activity.

The spirit bailed, launching itself across the lake and flinging a lance of icy power wildly. It struck near Bunny, nearly catching him with frozen shrapnel and before Sandy could stop him twin boomerangs shot out. North ran to Sandy, asking if he was alright as the bringer of dreams speedily tried to explain what was wrong. Seeing the giant rabbit as a threat, the spirit shot more ice out, trying desperately to escape the circle of trees as another howl rushed through the trees.

"That is no wind I have ever heard." North muttered, watching as Bunny engaged the frozen spirit.

"Bring it on you snowcone!" he threw one of his colorful bombs, it only served to frighten the thing more as more and more ice was flung everywhere. "This spirit's gone wild, North!"

"Bunny, stop!" North shouted, noticing something that was lurking on the edge of the woods.

The spirit lunged at the guardian of hope, but Bunny was much faster than the injured spirit using his large feet to kick it backwards and knock the staff from its hands. Brokenly, the spirit tumbled away, when it stopped the cloaked head shot up searching for the lost staff. For a moment the two held one another's gaze before they both made a dash for the staff, again Bunny was faster as he snatched up the length of wood. He hopped out of the reach of the spirit, raising it up towards North and Sandy triumphantly.

"Well looks like the snowcone here won't be any trouble without this now will he?" he chuckled, shouldering the ancient wood as its owner tried to stand.

Tried, was being kind, it seemed that the spirit's right leg was useless to him and red was spread all over the clearing now even in the dim light. North could see the boy as he had ten years ago as the hood fell, white as snow hair and nearly as pale skin, long limbs and bare feet that all were tinted blue. Red stained the white now, dripping from his nose and coloring his hair. Still looking like a young teen, North felt his heart clench at the young spirit, none of them enjoyed fighting something that resembled a child. Frightfully the spirit's head whipped back and forth after he realized that Bunny was not giving up the staff, frightened blue eyes searching the treeline for danger.

From the woods came another howl, closer than any other and as they turned the source of it lunged at the ice spirit. It tore at the boy's hood as he tried to get away, snapping jaws and raking claws biting at his legs. The spirit grabbed a handful of snow and slammed it into the side of the creature's head, stunning it long enough to hop away. Now that they were parted the guardians could see the creature, it was a male wolf, pure white with long teeth and the size of a human man. It snarled at the ice spirit, muzzle red with blood.

Sandy lunged for the wolf, it was easy to tell a spirit from a simple animal and this wolf was no forest creature. His golden whips lashed out, slicing open the wolf's side and bringing its attention to himself. When it turned and snarled at him, he stood his ground defiantly.

"This fight does not involve the likes of you Guardians." it snarled at them, turning back towards the spirit that was desperately trying to escape.

"You will not touch this spirit." North shouted, brandishing his sabres at the wolf as he put himself between it and the boy. "He cannot fight back, and you will not torture him."

"The boy needs to be taught his place, as all of Her children must, this _child_ is too weak." it growled, baring sharp white teeth, Sandy gripped his whips again. "I'll rip out his throat and _Jord_ will choose a better Shepherd."

"You will do no such thing while we are around." North growled back, pointing a sword at the beast's nose while behind him he heard the spirit try to fly away. "We will protect him."

"Pathetic." it hissed, fur standing on end as it stalked around North, hungry eyes trained on its prey.

Sandy rushed over to the panicked spirit, blowing sand in his face and catching him when his consciousness was stolen. "We take him to Pole, heal him." North rumbled, backing away from the white wolf. "Bunny, open your tunnels for us."

"Right." a gentle tap on the ground and the snow disappeared from beneath their feet, with a final snap and snarl the wolf lunged for the hole.

Bunny sealed the portal before it could follow, sending them through the tunnels quickly until they were spit out in the toy shop. Yetis surrounded them in minutes, surveying the heavily bleeding spirit that their boss held before the boy was passed to them and whisked away for treatment.

"Poor kid, that thing beat him to hell and back." Bunny mumbled, fingering the wooden staff he still held tight in his hand.

"We should not jump to conclusions with this one anymore Bunny, twice now we have expected the worst and found him to not be at fault." North sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "He is child, frightened, most likely raised without being told what has happened."

"If he was really raised by MiM, do you think the big guy would just let him run wild?" Bunny huffed, brushing some of the ice out of his chest fur. "I know he raises a lot of spirits, but this one's extra powerful."

"Then we will treat him with the respect of a more powerful spirit, he is frightened and injured, we must be gentle." North replied waving his hands around.

Sandy nodded in agreement, deciding to float after the yetis to the infirmary. The young spirit had been injured badly, the wolf's teeth had torn up his leg before the attack that they'd seen. He floated down the hallways, following the directions of the yetis he came across until he finally landed in the infirmary. Yetis were fast healers, already they had wrapped the boy's wounds and made him comfortable on one of the cots in the corner. They had even opened a window over the boy so he would not overheat in the warmth of the shop.

He sighed when he saw the extent of the boy's injuries, his leg was torn to shreds, along with his shoulder, the cloak the boy wore was hanging off the back of a chair in shreds. Somehow his blouse hadn't been completely destroyed, laying alongside his tattered vest and cloak with another yeti carefully sewing the off-white fabric back together. No golden sand swirled above the boy's head, instead his face was scrunched up in the wake of a nightmare, he waved a hand and sent off a stream of dreamsand. The boy's face smoothed out for a moment before the sand twisted into that of a wolf, growing and snarling. Sandy jumped into action retracting the sand and waving the almost nightmare away from the boy, blowing it away like a pile of dust.

Sandman sighed, watching the boy sleep fitfully for what seemed like hours, the yeti had moved on to the vest but it was beyond repair so he'd started on the cloak instead. It seemed to go together easily enough, but the stitches that had to be made were bulky and jagged. After it was done it wouldn't be the same handmade beauty as it had been, Sandy sighed sadly at the loss of the cloak. He heard the telltale signs of their fourth Guardian arriving and patted the boy on the hand before floating out to greet her. They were all in the globe room, Tooth was fluttering around talking a million miles a minute to her faeries.

Tooth was the Guardian of Memories, much like a human/hummingbird hybrid she was covered in iridescent feathers. Her wings beat so fast that they were a blur, though sitting still they would glitter like spun opals, long feathers sprouted out of her head creating a multicolored crown with a large golden feather at her forehead. Peacock like feathers tumbled from her waist in a half-skirt as her delicate feet never touched the ground for more than a second. When she spotted Sandy she dove upon him, violet eyes wide and full of questions.

"Is everyone alright? How is he? Can I see him?" she fired question after question at them all, curious as to the ice spirit she'd heard about for a while now.

"He is resting for now my friend, that wolf did quite a number on him." with a sigh the large russian man relaxed into a chair by the fire, warming his tired body. "For now, is good to be out of snow."

"How is he Sandy?" Bunny asked curiously, knowing that he'd gone to check on their new ward.

He twisted the sand over his head, the boy would be fine as long as he took his time to heal but with how wild most ice spirits were it was no guarantee. "We can only hope he does not return looking for revenge." North interjected, pointing a wary finger at Bunny before he wriggled out of his heavy coat. "That wolf will rip him to pieces."

"Well we can't let that happen, he's just a kid." Tooth said sadly, twisting around to give her faeries and few orders before she fluttered closer to the fire. "Bunny what is that?"

She pointed at the crook in the rabbit's paw curiously, it looked like a simple piece of timber from a gnarled old tree. "It's the kid's staff, seems like without it he has no powers. At least nothing too powerful." Bunny replied, leaning it against the side of the fireplace. "He dropped it when we were fighting, so I nicked it."

"When he wakes up make sure you give it back alright?" Tooth put her hands firmly on her hips, giving Bunny her best glare.

"Yeah, yeah." he waved her off, taking after North and curling up closer to the fire.

Without the ice and snow in his fur, he was soaking but a yeti was kind enough to bring him a towel while he warmed himself by the fire. He rubbed at his fur, trying to restore it to its fluffy glory. They were not expecting the yeti that came rushing into the globe room, garbling something loudly and in a panic.

"What do you mean little spirit is gone?" North exclaimed, jumping from his seat as the other guardians looked at him in shock. "He does not have staff, how can he escape?"

Bunny whirled to the fireplace, searching for the staff but finding nothing but the pokers and pile of firewood. They rushed for the infirmary, finding a trail of frozen elves and frosted walls. Inside the sick room a pair of yetis were trying to right the now toppled cots and blown over medical supplies. North strode up to one of the yetis as it began to explain what had happened, apparently the ice spirit had woken in a tizzy. In a flash he'd frozen half the room and bolted out the window, flying off on the wind. Still unsure how their ward had gotten back his staff they helped the yetis clean the room, closing the window and brushing away the snow that had blown in.

Sandy reached beneath the cots, collecting rolls of bandages and healing salves when a pile of cloth caught his eye. He reached for it and pulled it out from under the cot, it was the spirit's vest still in shreds. With a quick hop he searched behind the other cots and tables searching for any other articles of clothing that the spirit might have left behind. When he found none, he felt a little bit better, at least he wouldn't be wandering around half naked. The others noticed his searching, and when he showed them the vest they all shared a worried look. They all had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last they heard from him.

* * *

_Holy crap another update! And this one is long! I'm on fire, but after this it might die for a little bit, but I do have a prompt that I might play with before I have to go back to school so we'll see how that goes. I really wanted to pull out injured bird Jack in this one, it seems like to me he's very flighty and fluttery like a bird, he even hops around in the movie like one and perches on edges of stuff. Anyway, happy reading my lovely people! R&R! Tah~_


	7. Ghosts

**Ghosts**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_set soon after the movie_/

"What happened to your back, mate?" Jack cringed at the loaded question, desperately wishing that he had his hoodie to cover himself with.

A few short hours ago he'd been in Europe, bringing an ice storm to Austria, when he'd felt the urge to harass his favorite long eared Guardian. Like Hel was hot on his heels, he'd jumped on the back of the north wind and quickly surged to the sight of the one person he knew could get him into the Warren. Sita was the Shepherd of Spring, one of three spirits he could almost call his siblings. Long ago, Sita had made the parallel that Jack was the new baby that their mother, Mother Nature herself, had adopted without telling them. As with any youngest child, their mother had paid special attention to Jack for many years, more than she did with the other shepherds as he learned to use his powers.

Older sibling jealousy had come like a storm, and each of the other shepherds had done their best to go against their youngest. Sita had been the worst of them, spring and winter were always at odds and she'd always hated how he had to kill all her plant life each year. Over the years they'd slowly grown more used to one another but there was still that wedge of animosity between them that stopped any sort of true friendship from forming. Somehow the shepherds knew where one another were when they wanted to find them. Something deep inside Jack pulled him across the globe closer and closer he came until finally the wind dropped him in an almost too warm glade.

The signs of autumn crawled at the edges of the little clearing, Sita would not return there until her sleep took her. Long ago, he'd discovered and used the portal many times when all others were blocked off. Each shepherd of the seasons had a place where they could return to, the focus point for their powers. When they returned to their own point they were their most powerful, for at each of these locations laid the bones of their humans selves. Jack had first found Sita's point on accident, he'd been spreading winter when he'd mistakenly frozen her glade and her wrath had been near apocalyptic. For decades Jack had nursed the wounds he'd received, and for decades he'd made sure to give his sibling a wide berth.

Though he'd come to avoid the shepherd of spring, when she wasn't at her point he'd slipped into the fallen tree trunk that had grown from her bones and used the portal within. He landed softly in the outlying tree line, the glade was a large basin in the middle of an overgrown forest. It was clear and open with long grass and at the very bottom of the basin sat the fallen remnants of the very great oak that had grown from Sita's body. She had died thousands of years ago, a young village girl who'd had the ability to talk with the wildlife and see the fate through the rippling ponds. Her village had turned upon her when she brought a magical seed from the forest.

It had whispered to them that if they planted it in the center of the village that it would protect them and bring them wealth, but the villagers grew scared of the magic that Sita had discovered. They'd attacked her and chased her into the woods, desperately she'd swallowed the seed so the villagers couldn't destroy it. Sita died in the woods, and the villagers threw her body away in the basin. From her stomach grew the seed, nourished from her flesh and bones into the tree that was promised to look over the village. Though they'd killed her, Sita lived on in the tree and watched over her home, soon again though the villagers smelled witchcraft and cut down the 'devil tree'.

Sita had emerged from its remains, made into the shepherd of spring by Mother Nature, she mother begged the girl to look upon the village with kindness again. She could not, and with all the pain in her heart she ran away. Mother Nature had told Jack that Sita didn't return to her point until the village was long gone, the people gone and buildings overgrown with plant life. Over the centuries her tree withered and became a husk of its once great majesty, it petrified and Sita made her home inside it. Jack saw the pain she held when she looked upon the village, the same when he looked at Burgess and remembered his family and his home, lost and forgotten.

Shaking his head he slipped down from the lip of the basin, crouching in the taller bits of grass when he could and kept a close eye on the sky above. At the bottom was her tree, huge and looming over his slight frame as he quickly slipped in the open end of the hollow trunk. He gripped his staff tight in his hand, focus clamped down firmly on his powers so he wouldn't frost anything while he was still in Sita's domain. Moss and flowers coated the inside of the trunk, wider than he was tall by about two feet, allowing him to walk upright easily as he made his way deeper into the trunk. The opposite end of the tree had long since buried itself in the earth, making it the perfect portal into the Warren.

Slowly the petrified wood gave way to true stone, though more and more moss covered it and the downy moss beneath his bare toes became soft grass. The east wind rushed through the tunnel at him, touching his face with familiarity and greeting him warmly. At his back the north wind surged up to meet the east and Jack left the two to swirl together franticly in a playful typhoon. His path brought him to a rock face deep within the warren, obscured by giant fuzzy leaves whose fibers stuck to Bunny's fur and drove him mad. He'd never look for Jack's secret entrance there, and the winter shepherd had never been more glad for it.

With a quick glance about the clearing of the Warren he dashed across the green valleys and over crystal clear pools, bringing with him a cool breeze that always followed. Frost sometimes escaped his hold touching a flower here or the edge of a leaf there, nothing damaging but it left a trail for Bunny to potentially follow. Only minutes passed but he soon reached the corner of the Warren that Bunny had made his home in and the egglets had already noticed him. Some had already started to scurry off in search of their protector as the egg golems surged up, sensing another spirit in proximity. A grin split his face when Jack saw the warrior egg spin their heads around to their battle visages.

He'd always loved messing with the stone golems, they always reacted to his presence as a threat but they never did anything until he made the first move. With a grin still plastered across his face, he hopped up onto one of the fallen stone pillars, crouching with his staff over his shoulder and searching the valley for a tuft of blue fur. The warriors followed him when he jumped down from his perch, trailing along lazily as he went in search of Bunny. Egglets followed him, crowding around his feet without touching him, those that did were momentarily graced with frost before it melted in the temperate climate. When he heard the telltale swish of the long grass his face split in yet another grin, casually glancing over his shoulder at the small parade that he'd accumulated.

The golems turned and stared at a clump of bushes, sensing their owner hiding there. "Bunny, you really gotta figure out a way to hide better, in your own home no less." he laughed before raising his hands over his head and stretching. "I thought rabbits were good at hiding in holes?"

He heard the frustrated sigh before he saw the rabbit trudge out from his hiding place, Jack quickly hopped up onto another pillar easily out of reach of Bunny. "What'dya want Frost?" he asked, crossing his furry arms and tapping a foot.

"Nothing." Bunny's ears dropped suspiciously as Jack tried to suppress his smile, turning his back on the furred guardian. "Just thought I'd stop by and say hi."

"You _never_ just stop by to say hello, mate." he could almost hear Bunny's eyes narrow and his suspicion kindle. "Alright, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" oh, Jack was having plenty of fun now, it was amazing how much he could do by simply sitting still. "I have done, _nothing_."

A beat passed before the warrior eggs wandered off in the direction that Jack had come from, some silent orders having gone between stone and owner. "Well if you're done doing whatever you're doing, could you rack off? I'm working." Bunny started to walk away just as Jack was innocently assessing his toes, wait Bunny was leaving and with him went his fun.

"Aw, come on Bunny why're you so grumpy today?" Jack whined, stretching backwards over the pillar to get a better look at his companion. "You need to loosen up."

"I've got eggs to paint, Frostbite. Go freeze some of North's elves if you're that bored." when he fell out of sight Jack hopped up and followed him, staff over his shoulder and a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Aw, come on Bunny you always have eggs to paint." he followed the rabbit along the well worn trails until he could see the river of color where eggs were testing the waters and emerging as little spherical rainbows. "They paint themselves!"

Bunny snorted, walking over to a flat rock where his painting supplies was spread out and dozens of egglets were playing a the edge of the river. Many already had dizzying designs painted across their shells with splashes of every color in the world and even more swirling in the ever flowing river. Jack made himself comfortable in an overhead tree, resting his back comfortably against the trunk as he watched Bunny paint below him. They sat like that for what seemed hours, with Jack watching each and every paint stroke and the furred guardian trying his very best to ignore his unwanted visitor. His power slowly laced down the trunk of the tree Jack sat in, sending swirling frost ferns across the bark and down to where Bunny sat.

At first the guardian of hope tried to ignore it, Jack's ice was something that they all had to get used to, wherever he went the cold followed. Once upon a time Jack had told them that it was overflow from his powers, his body was too small to hold everything in so it leaked out of him in the form of frost ferns. The north and east winds rushed up through the branches swirling around the shepherd who could only laugh excitedly when he felt the air around him buzz playfully. With his staff gripped tight in his hand he leapt from the tree and into the welcoming arms of the wind. He'd heard Bunny's worried voice call out to him, but he was too far gone in the energy that swirled around him. East caressed his face like the warm hands of a friend while the North snatched him away and tossed him through the air.

They effectively played keep away with him, and he was more than happy to close his eyes and let himself be thrown and caught in midair, knowing that a wide grin was spread across his face. He tumbled and soared through the air, sometimes giving one or the other a slight advantage by angling his pliable body this way or that to change his course. If he opened his eyes he could see the blurs of green swirl around him, he didn't know if he was upside down or cock-eyed or laying back. Jack trusted the winds more than anything in the world, they would always be there even when the others would be gone. Again he was tossed through the air by the north and he felt himself falling, the east caught him but lost its grip and let him fall again.

He twisted and rode along the north's back, waving at Bunny as he passed by the wide eyed rabbit. "You alright up there mate?" he called, standing up and ready to catch the spirit if needed.

Jack laughed and twisted again, jumping from north to the east and tumbling head over heels when it threw him upwards. "Better than okay!" he exclaimed, whooping with joy as the north picked him up out of the east's grip yet again. "You gotta try this sometime Bunny!"

"I'm gonna stick here on the ground, mate. You have fun up there." he replied, sitting back down and resuming his painting.

Jack noticed when the rabbit's green eyes flickered up at him, on any sort of particular drop of his body he could see blue fur ruffle nervously. He laughed, sometimes if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine the two winds as some sort of relatives. As if Jack were just a small child they gently tossed him back and forth, causing a surge of adrenaline that could only make him laugh. With him came the laughter of the two winds as well, something that he could only feel. It filled him with an emotion that couldn't be described, something warm and happy that made him feel safe, it bubbled up inside him and escaped as laughter.

As the wind launched him upwards he felt freer than he ever did, nothing ever felt as much like freedom as the open sky. He felt himself fall, the wind carding through his hair, kissing his fingertips as he spread his arms wide. The wind wasn't there to catch him. Panic flooded his mind, he half twisted his neck around and for a moment saw the river of color rushing up to greet him before it was suddenly over his head. With his eyes slammed shut, he flailed in the not-water, it was as viscous as water but he knew the dyes that swam in its gentle flow.

It was much deeper than it looked with the eggs swimming in it, his toes touched the bottom and he knew he'd sunk deeper than just a few feet. The dark tendrils of his memory wove their way through his mind and around him the water turned bitterly cold. Again he thrashed in the depths, kicking as hard as he could on the bottom when he felt a hand rip him up and out of the river. When he felt grass beneath his hands and air surging through his lungs he felt safe again, felt the winds touching his back and face in a panic. He waved a hand impatiently at the apologies that were swirling around him, taking in deep lungfuls of air as he pushed back the pain and fear that threatened to tumble out.

"You alright mate?" Bunny rushed into his field of vision, gripping his shoulders and steadying the winter spirit.

He took a few more deep breaths before he replied, his heart was still thudding away in his chest. "I'm good, I'm good, just–" Jack's lungs clenched, almost losing air again when he noticed that his staff was gone. "I'm okay."

When he looked down Bunnymund's chest was coated in a plethora of colors, it coated his arms up to the elbows and was dripping down his long legs. A groan almost slipped out of him when he thought about how many colors of the rainbow he must have been. With a final once over his companion produced the long scrap of wood and handed it to the winter spirit who snatched it up. He allowed himself to be half dragged towards the little hut that was built into the side of a hill across the river and a short ways away. Jack was left outside the hut while the pooka trudged inside, when he returned he grabbed a handful of the blue hoodie and dragged him around the side of the hill.

Bunny brought him to a little clearing where a stone well and a small garden sat, tools laid about around a shed and Jack spotted a small shower head with a stool beneath it. He winced at the thought of being doused in more water but with the pooka's firm hand on his arm he didn't have much choice.

"Put these on and I'll clean you off." Bunny sighed, handing Jack a pair of baggy cloth shorts and turning his back.

He did as he was told, pulling his hoodie and blouse over his head and cringing when he saw the patterns of bright dyes staining the once pristine blue fabric. They were both flung over the edge of a nearby wheelbarrow, his pants were a bit better off but some of the darker dyes had stained the edges. All in all he was annoyed and embarrassed, his skin was only lightly stained thankfully and what strands he could see sticking to his cheeks he'd gone from snow white to abalone shell. When he pulled the shorts up and tied the cord Bunny grabbed him again and sat him down on the stool under the little shower head having him lean back against the wall. Water rained down on him with the squeak of a faucet, he flinched and waited for the liquid to freeze over him like it usually did but when he opened his eyes he realized it was colder than he'd expected.

The pooka's body appeared in front of him as paws carded through his hair, he turned for a moment and picked up a bottle off a little shelf that had been built on the side of the wall next to the makeshift shower. Some kind of liquid was poured into his hair before the paws returned, color washed down his arms and stained the earth under his multicolored toes.

"You sure you're alright mate?" Bunny asked as he scrubbed at Jack's now brightly colored hair. "You're still shakin'."

"Yeah, well drowning kinda sucks you know?" more than anything he was embarrassed, if not a bit mad at the winds for dropping him in the river in the first place.

"You're immortal, mate. You don't have to worry about drowning." Bunny replied casually, pouring more of whatever he was using to remove the dye into Jack's hair. "I've fallen in the river before too, nothing to really worry about."

"I drowned okay?" the winter shepherd sighed heavily, wrapping his long arms around his torso. "When I died, I drowned in the pond in front of my house. So yeah, I was a little freaked out."

The paws in his hair stilled for a moment and Jack found his toes extremely interesting. After a moment the scrubbing resumed, a bit more slowly as the pooka rubbed in the solution and washed out the last of the dye from the white locks. Carefully Bunnymund kneeled in front of the winter child, cloth and cleaning solution in hand as he began scrubbing the spirit's face. Jack's arms clutched tighter around his chest, slowly the guardian of hope moved down from his face to his neck and collarbone.

"This stuff'll stain you quick if you don't get it off." Bunnymund grumbled, rubbing at a bright splotch of gold that refused to come off the spirit's collarbone. "Sorry about the river Frostbite."

"I died." Jack shrugged, making Bunny wince. "It happens, I don't think I've been underwater since it happened. Water always freezes when I touch it."

"Yeah, well the river's not really water so it doesn't really surprise me that it just let you fall in." the pooka replied, running the wash cloth over almost white shoulders.

"The winds are usually there to catch me." blue eyes glared up at the open air above them, he felt the distant rush of wind crying mournfully to him. "I'm not done being mad at you two."

Again the north and east winds cried, rushing through the trees and plants with worry. Unable to abandon their shepherd they paced through the air worriedly, hoping that their frost child would forgive them soon. Jack scowled when Bunnymund chuckled at him, moving to the winter child's shoulders while said spirit glared at him, when he was done he reached over and turned the shower off.

"Alright, stand up and turn around, I'll get your back and then you're on your own mate." the pooka said as he stood up to retrieve more of the stuff that he'd used on Jack's hair and poured it into a basin filled with water.

Nervously Jack wrapped his arms tighter around himself, mind whirring and trying to come up with a reason to deny the pooka. He watched as his brightly colored clothes were added to the cleaner filled basin and the easter guardian turned back to him with a confused expression on his face. Jack couldn't very well see his back, he could be a peacock from the shoulders down for all he knew unless he got a mirror to help.

"Come on mate, if you don't get it off it'll take weeks to fade." Bunny urged him, shooing off some of the egglets that had started crowding around the water basin. "Frostbite?"

With a deep breath Jack stood up and pulled the stool away from the wall, he turned around and sat back on the stool hoping that it would give way and he would fall into the ground. The pooka returned to the spirit and started on Jack's brightly stained back, bright splotches of gold and pink had dripped down his skin and swirled together in a muddled design. As he scrubbed the dye seemed to be coming off less and less, running his fingers over the skin of Jack's back he was surprised to feel deep ridges and mounds of raised flesh. Scars crisscrossed along the pale skin, some stained a dark blue like burns while others were a shade paler than the rest of his back. Jack shuffled nervously beneath his paws as he traced the marks, wiping at more of the dye to reveal more and more.

"What happened to your back, mate?" Bunnymund asked, staring at the spider's web of cuts and burns that had long since healed.

"Three hundred years of being the black sheep of the spirit world?" Jack replied tartly, running a hand over his neck where he knew a nasty wound had once sat from a harvest spirit. "I'm a winter spirit, given the job as a Seasonal Shepherd raised by MiM and made into a Guardian at three hundred years old when there are thousands of older spirits that believe they should've been chosen before me. I've spent the last three hundred years trying to hide from all the spirits that have been trying to kill me."

"They can't all have been bad Frostbite, didn't you meet any other spirits? The other Shepherds?" the water started falling on his head again, washing out the remainder of the solution as more scars were revealed.

"Nope and the other Shepherds all hated me, I was the red headed stepchild that mom brought home one day without telling anyone." Jack grumbled, watching a few stray egglets gather between his ankles and enjoy the cold spray. "They're okay with me now, Sita wants nothing to do with me especially.

"Other spirits think that winter spirits are fragile, that's why we're so volatile and defensive, I can't tell you how many other spirits have tried to get to me." Jack continued mournfully, picking at the edges of his shorts. "After a while I just started freezing anyone that got too close."

"Out of necessity, eh?" the pooka scratched idly at his chest fur, finishing off the last of the dye that stained Jack's back.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry, kangaroo." blue eyes whipped around to glare at the pooka. "It's none of your business to feel sorry for me and I don't need any pity."

"Alright, alright. I'm not saying anything." still, Bunnymund ruffled the spirit's slowly freezing hair comfortingly. "Get yerself cleaned up and you can help me paint some eggs."

"What about my clothes?" Jack cried indignantly as his fellow guardian got up and stared trotting back to the river.

"Let 'em soak and they'll be good as new, Frostbite." he called over his shoulder before rounding the corner and disappearing from sight.

Jack grumbled a few nasty things about rabbits before he turned and began washing the dye that Bunny hadn't gotten off. It took nearly an hour to get completely clean, and Jack's skin had turned an interesting shade of reddish purple where he'd scrubbed too hard. The scars would always be there no matter how he tried to wash them away, when he joined Bunnymund the pooka sent a look at the raw skin. A single look from Jack silenced him, they'd shared enough for the day and the winter spirit was ready to go hide in a snowbank for a week. Indignation continued to bubble up inside him even when Bunny handed him a brush and some paint, and he took his frustration out on the egglets that gathered around them.

His own eggs were nowhere near as detailed as the pooka's were but after a while Jack had figured out that if he dipped a finger in the paint and frosted the side it made a better pattern. Soon enough a gaggle of multicolored, frosted eggs were running around bumping into their companions and spreading the little bits of fern frost. It took hours for his clothes to get clean, and even longer to dry before he could pull them back on and re-frost them.

"Thanks, Bunny." Jack mumbled before he gripped his staff tight and leapt up to be carried off by the winds.

"Anytime, Frostbite." the pooka called back, watching the winter spirit go before he turned back to the eggs that were waiting to be painted.

It wasn't much, but Bunny was going to make sure to chase the dark past that clung to Jack away, and the other Guardians would be there to help too. Jack was part of their family now, and he was going to stay there whether he liked it or not.

* * *

_Good news! I'm back! Woo! So I brought some brotherly Jack and Bunny with me, and we get to run around the Warren and learn about the shepherd of spring. Hurray! This on is a bit longer than the others too so that's awesome. Hope you all liked this update! Happy reading my lovelies! R&R!_


	8. Understanding

**Understanding**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_set long before the movie in which Jack realizes he's not completely alone_/

Jack would always choose winter, something inside him screamed that he'd never be able to deny it. If ever came a situation where the spirit had to die to ensure that winter would be protected he would happily end his own life. There was a little voice in the back of his head, sometimes more of a feeling than a voice. Inside his head was a map of the world, the same thing that said he'd always choose winter pulled him towards the places that needed snow. Like a sixth sense he knew where every snowflake would eventually fall, where nature was bound to turn its ugly cheek to the world.

Never could Jack deny the pull, where to give snow, to take it away, to freeze entire lakes and glaze the evergreens in crisp cold. Long ago, Mother Nature had told him that the strange feeling inside him was in all the other shepherds as well, it was the voice of nature inside all of them. It enabled them to speak to the winds and bring their seasons to the world, they could never be lost unless they refused to listen to the whispers in their minds. He remembered all those centuries ago when their Mother gathered him up and took him 'home'. For almost forty years he'd been alone, too afraid of what was outside of the small settlement of Burgess to attempt venturing outside its boarders. During the off months he buried himself in the depths of Burgess Pond, the very pond where he'd woken.

Clearer than any other memory Jack remembered the first time he'd met Mother Nature. It was the time between Spring and Summer, when the heat chased him deep into the bed of the pond after his reign of cold was over. He remembered the water swirling around him as the little fish swam about his head, mostly he slept during the off months but like a squirrel during winter he sometimes woke and wandered in his watery home. Pondweed swayed in the gentle current, sometimes children came and swam in the murky waters and he delighted in causing cold spots to make them giggle and shriek. Suddenly, he felt it again. That odd little tug at the center of his everything, it willed him to flee from the icy depths of his pond, abandon the soft, silty bed of the pond and soar across the clouds.

Though the thing inside him wished for the skies, in the same intangible breath it curled up in fear and dug its heels into the ground. He'd never been out in the other seasons, not for long in any case, he was able to keep himself cool mostly but any prolonged exposure to the higher temperatures were dangerous. More than once he'd discovered the dangers of overheating, his vision went cloudy, his head worked as if stuffed with cotton and his magic failed him. Heat took away the voice of the thing inside him, numbed him to it's pull and muffled the wind's worried cries. More than once he'd tumbled from the sky, too weak to keep himself up as the wind desperately tried to raise him back into its arms. A shudder wracked through him at the memory, disturbing the tiny fish that had been nibbling at his cheek and making them swim away.

It was ripping itself in two, half ecstatic and half terrified before suddenly, Jack felt something else. A ripple on the surface of the pond, what light that could reach him shined down and threw the shadows of the ripples across the backs of his hands. His eyes followed the curving lights, tracing them along his own pale white skin before looking up to see what was making such beautiful ripples. At first he didn't know what he was seeing, just a blurry black mass that was hovering over the surface of his pond. He wasn't sure when the children had gone, or when the black, swirling mass above him had appeared.

At first he was scared, it shifted and moved like nothing he'd seen before, like a shadow. Whatever it was moved closer, he could see the outline of feet touch the water but not slip into it. Black settled onto the water with the feet and slowly little tendrils drifted into the water, panic floored him and he dug his heels into the silt to find a darker place to hide. Ice threatened to form around him, the temperature of the water dropped dangerously as if it were the first day of snowmelt. Jack had learned long ago that if he wanted to protect himself in the pond, he could easily flash freeze the water around him into wicked spikes. Though it was only a makeshift defense it had saved him more than once.

As if sensing his distress the black mass retreated, the little thing inside him was screaming for him to chase after it but his mind was too afraid. He watched the distorted feet walk across the surface, causing more of the ripples before it reached the bank and disappeared. Before he knew what he was doing Jack shot to the surface, lifting his head slowly out of the water and feeling the heat of the sun beat down on him he searched the shore for whatever had been there. Trees swayed innocently at him, the sounds of spring and summer mingling overhead in a mess of birdsong and skittering paws. All the leaves had bloomed on every branch and vine, flowers surrounded his little pond, fed by the clean water and warm sunlight.

Inside him the little thing calmed, settled back into whatever crevice in his soul it had made its home and was blissfully silent. He waited for hours on the surface, dodging wayward summer sprites that nipped at him for 'sticking his nose into someone else's season' as they put it. The thing didn't return, so he drifted back into his watery home, slipping into a blissful summer's sleep. Much like bears and small animals hibernated during the winter months, he slept mostly through the spring and summer. Autumn was when he would wake next, when the tumble of fall leaves would obscure the little sprites inside as they attended their duties in painting the tree leaves the colors of a dying fire.

It was middle November when Jack finally rose from the pond, most of the sprites had finished with his little town of Burgess. Any that lingered would soon be chased out by the too cold air though they were of cooler temperatures themselves, Jack's idea of cold was too much for their tiny bodies to handle. With a resounding howl the North Wind surged to greet him after his long sleep, swirling around him like the embrace of a friend, cool and crisp. The wind whispered to him, telling him of its adventures, of the things it'd seen while he was away. _So many new things to see frost child!_, it whispered to him before dancing off across the lake to play with a few straggling autumn sprites.

Jack watched as the wind picked them up and twirled them around, tossing them to and fro which brought forth indignant squeaks from the swirls of leaves. His laughter brought the wind back to his side, dropping the bundle of leaves and swirling around him excitedly, it was happy to make its frost child smile. It whispered urgently to him to play, play tricks and dance with it. Up in the sky where not even the other seasons could take Jack away from it they could play all through winter, maybe even pick the frost child up and show him all the things it'd seen. Still, that little thing inside Jack feared and loved the possibility of flight from that town.

And still something pinned him there, something strong and undeniable kept him in that town, it felt like a cage. There was nothing to trap him there, no reason for him to stay, he could go with the wind and play forever. Like a bird that sat in a cage with an open door, unsure whether to take flight or stay he took off on the back of the wind. He would stay again this winter, maybe next winter he would go, let the wind show him the world. _Come frost child, come!_, it cried. It picked him up off the surface of the pond with only slight disappointment, it would show its frost child the world someday. The wind knew they had all the time in the world to do so, and took delight in taking its frost child through Burgess to bring winter.

Still he knew little about his powers, as he rode upon the wind's back he knew little about anything he did anymore. Cold and snow called for him, it called for him to release them, to allow them to spread and grip the world tight. Slowly the wind pulled him upwards, over the town, deep into the clouds. There his elements swirled around him, filling him to the brim with excitement and power. It filled him up until he felt ready to absolutely _burst_ with joy when the thing inside him screeched. Screaming bloody murder, it dragged him down out of the clouds, away from the wind that called after him worriedly. Now roiling from Jack's own panic the wind surged around him, carrying him faster and faster through the town.

He missed the turns, the houses were only brown blurs and windows reflected his agitated mood by freezing themselves over with hoarfrost. Jack could feel the wind's fear on his heels but the thing inside him was a more powerful call that he'd ever felt before. _Be there frost child!_, it screamed, _You must be there before it's gone, it will be lost!_. '_Lost_' made his gut clench painfully, made the tight coil of his muscles cinch a cold band of fear around his heart. Something inside him snapped, like a rubber band pulled too tight. It brought to him such a blinding stab of pain the wind reeled with him and dropped him headlong into the snow.

For a long time he laid there, in a snow drift. Radiating cold and pain, he could feel his fingertips pounding in time with his heart. Clearer than anything else he felt the pain, something that struck him deeper than the little thing inside him. It was quiet now, and dread settled where the pain slowly faded from. Lost. Whatever it was, it was lost.

Another feeling sparked inside him, it drowned out the dread, the pain, the confusion. Like the embers of a flame they caught and flared inside him, spreading through him from the pit of his stomach all the way down to his toes. Without a word, the wind picked him up and he soared into the clouds. The wind showed him the world, whatever was 'lost' had set him free from the town of Burgess. Pain still throbbed like a beacon, a constant reminder but more than anything _freedom_ coursed through his entire being.

Deep down inside the little thing sang and cheered as he sailed across the mountains, bringing ice and snow to places he'd never seen before. The wind showed him the places where winter never slept, places where summer had never touched, places that were only Jack's. It showed him the tip tops of all the coldest mountain peaks, the deepest crevices where rivers were frozen in motion, and all the prettiest ponds that it thought the frost child would like. Jack learned of animals he'd never seen before, enamored as the wind was with penguins and understanding the dangers of playing too rough with polar bears. Arctic foxes were happy to let him join them when chasing mice in the snow, the albatross glided on the wind by his side for miles while he learned quickly to stray from the seals with their ill tempers and wicked teeth.

He brought winter to the middle grounds as he called them, the wind told him of those places where all the seasons passed over in turn and those where only a single season reigned. It taught him, for forty long years he'd created cold for only one place while winter ran rampant all over the world. The world was beautiful, everything the wind showed him the trees, the animals, all the towns and villages he'd never knew existed. Jack quickly decided he'd liked 'Antarctica' as the wind called it, apparently a name given to it by the humans. Time passed by them, never touching the frost child, for years the thing inside him was quiet.

For years, Jack Frost was at peace.

* * *

_Alright so I know I've changed the chapter like half an hour after posting it, but I seriously couldn't let it sit like it was, I'm going to be using that piece at the end for another chapter though okay? Let me know if you think it's a decent idea, but yeah something about this chapter just made me uncomfortable posting it as it was. So R&R my dears! I love to hear from you all!  
_


	9. Never

**Never**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_sister chapter to __**Understanding**__ in which Jack meets another Shepherd_/

Jack wasn't sure how long he wandered on the back of the wind, the pain of hunger had long since faded in the beginning years of his solitude and the wind laid him down to sleep when he needed. On their travels, the wind held Jack aloft and wrapped around him like a second cloak. Over the half grounds he soared, the wind wanted to show its frost child where each season could settle in turn and the ones were he would someday meet the Autumn. Inside him the thing stirred, with a soft request the wind set him down in a small clearing where autumn had made its home. At his presence the temperature dropped several degrees, causing what few leaves still clung to their limbs to curl in on themselves and fall.

His frosted footsteps followed him as he investigated, his crook held aloft and ready to defend himself if need be. Jack had taken to calling the little thing inside him his core, it curled and called to him from the very depths of his being so it seemed like a good name. Trees shot up on either side and behind him, branches that still hung on to their leaves were soon bared by the cold and the half dried grass wilted beneath his feet. The tip of his staff idly tapped against a few small boulders, scattering ice as he pulled it in a slow arc to switch hands and skirt over a small pool of water. With a single touch a layer of ice covered the water, if he needed to the pool was deep enough for him to dive down into and freeze the top half to protect himself.

Deploringly, the North Wind pulled at the hem of his cloak, it whispered to him. _Come frost child_, it called,_ come and play_. His core pulled him closer to the trees, he ignored the wind's pleas for him to leave and stepped closer to the treeline. Crystal blue eyes twitched this way and that searching for any sort of threat, bare toes skirted over the dying grass as he neared the bare trunks. Swirling like an swarm of angry hornets, autumn sprites erupted from their hiding places behind the tall grass settled between a thatch of trees, staggering the winter spirit.

Blue light erupted from his staff as they charged him, he felled two before the others realized that he wasn't nearly as big a threat as they'd thought him to be. Usually, autumn sprites ignored him or avoided him at all costs, he'd been freezing them out of their duties for decades now. Again his core gave an odd little shudder, the tumbles of leaves suddenly dropped and left their wearer's bare. Jack had never seen the actual autumn sprites, he'd begun to think that they were literally made of leaves and wind. On little wings the sprites were held aloft, looking almost as if a root had come to life their skins were uneven and bumpy, little strands sprouting off here and there.

One was brave enough to venture closer, giving him a much better view of it but also passing a comfort zone line. Big, black eyes stared back at him, if he looked again there was a thin ring of orange gold around the black making it look less alien and sinister. Little limbs sprouted down from its round hips as root-like arms also fell from awkwardly formed shoulders. A stubby little neck held a round head where it seemed the thing had speared itself to made hair out of dried twigs, grass and other bits of plants. They each varied in size, the one closest to Jack would almost reach up to his knee if it stood beside him but he wasn't about to let his guard down around something that was even a small threat.

It trilled at him, making him start, it opened its mouth again showing off sharp little rocks embedded where teeth should have been. The sprite repeated the sound, misshapen fingers grasping at the air towards Jack as it fluttered around and made the same sound over and over again. Unsure what to do Jack repeated the sound to their great delight, they chittered and chirped excitedly and began playing a sort of game. One would trill off a series of notes at a rapid pace and the others had to repeat it, whenever the line reached Jack he would stumble and hesitate before he whistled off the tune. Inside him his core perked up, blue eyes whipped towards the treeline where the sprites had come from as they squealed happily.

From the woods came a woman, she stepped over the roots of the trees and Jack watched as the long dry grass parted in her wake. He could see the locks of gold and red that still remained in the nest that the young woman would most likely call her hair, twigs and grass were braided into the long strands much like the sprites. When she was completely out of the woods her orange eyes settled on Jack's tense form, she had olive skin and long, curling eyelashes. Like Jack she was barefoot and in one hand she held a small staff of carved wood. Looking more like a walking stick than a staff the winter spirit could see how much detail and care was put into the wood as he pointed the tip of his own staff at the woman.

Deerskin pants were clasped around her hips while her coat was made of woven dried grass and multicolored leaves that trailed behind her, inside him his core seemed to welcome the other spirit. She stared at him for a long time, Jack wasn't sure how long they'd stood there but he was sure it had to have been almost an hour. Her step was smooth and calculated, as if she were closing in on a frightened animal as she tried to close the distance between herself and Jack. Though his core welcomed this woman, his mind told him that she was a threat, with a flash of azure light the ground between them is frozen solid. The woman let out a surprised yelp and threw an arm up to protect her face from the blast of cold, Jack watched as the skin of her arm convulsed and curled in on itself before his very eyes.

"Wait!" she called to his receding figure.

The North Wind, sensing his distress, had snatched him up and taken him away from the strange woman farther and farther until it carefully set him down in a snowdrift continents away. His question to the wind hung heavy between them, and it hesitated in replying. If it told its frost child, he would become curious, maybe even leave the wind. Silence settled between them as Jack pleaded to know, demanded till he was blue in the face. Still the wind refused him, it hurt to think his only companion for those decades could deny him answers after all it'd shown him already.

"Please." he begged once more, the wind curled around his head, touching his face with invisible fingers like a family member worrying over a child. "Please."

A breath of wind crashed over his head, bringing with it the bite of winter but also the smell of summer, leaves the color of fire twisted around him some smacking across his cheeks before the stream died. They fluttered down and curled in on themselves, whatever magic had kept them whole in the freezing climate around them having died off.

"Autumn?" he whispered curiously, snagging one of the dying leaves out of the air. "That was Autumn?"

_Worry not frost child_, the wind touched his face again, _come play frost child. _

"I don't _want_ to play!" Jack shouted, causing the wind to recoil at his sudden rage. "She could see me!"

The wind howled angrily at him, whispered to him of the autumn sprites that had attacked him, the summer and spring sprites that chased him away after winter into the depths of a pond. It reminded him of all the times spirits came along to look upon the frost child and tricked him with their lies of companionship and warmth. Without Jack the wind would be alone again as well, it would have no shepherd to ride upon its back. Everything the North Wind touched became cold and desolate, long ago the world of ice they stood upon had been the wind's favorite green valley but it had stayed too long. Green faded away into white as the wind brought the Death of the World with it, the ground froze and no crops would grow.

It was still the wind's favorite place, but with its frost child the dismal landscape was that much less lonely. "I know, alright?" Jack wheezed, hating how sadness welled in his chest and squeezed it tight. "I know, but– I need to know that someone sees me."

The wind could see him. "Not just you, you've been with me since the beginning, you're always there." Jack replied, looking down at his toes. "I need to know that I'm not the wind's dream. I need to know that I'm real."

Hesitantly the wind swirled slowly around him, letting him know it was still there, that it wasn't mad at its frost child and it hoped that he wasn't mad at it. Jack took the affections, smiling when the wind picked him up happily and tossed him into the sky. Neither of them would be alone as long as the other was there, decades would pass and the two would be together. Wind and the frost child were almost like a single entity, the wind brought the cold and through Jack it flowed out into the world. The wind couldn't do it alone, when it was alone it created storms that hurt the humans it so endeared.

As long as they had each other, they would never be alone.

* * *

_Haaaaai, sooooo yeah. I chopped the last chapter that I posted in half and now this can stand on its own because together they were like a weird overgrown plant. Okay, so! Two chapters in an hour, sweet. I feel a little derpy about posting them together. Anyway! R&R my lovelies! I always love hearing from you all!_


	10. Clean

**Clean**

By: Midnight E Siren

/_short thing I know and I'm sorry but hey I was feeling artsy today_/

He was not born for the sole purpose of bringing happiness, nor to bring peace. Risen from a watery grave, he was born of ice and lake water, plucked from the grasp of death by the moon. For ten long years after his death he slept, for to become immortal was not a simple thing. For ten long winters he slept as his skin turned deathly white, the color washed from his hair and skin by the rippling currents. Water, ever forgetful, washed him clean of all his sins, all his fear, all his memories until he was pristine. The water could not bring itself to wash away the color of his eyes, such a beautiful color as if the moon itself had frozen shards of the sky into two bright orbs.

Into him the water poured itself, settled deep into his very core and became one with him freezing him in everlasting cold from the inside out. Ice wrapped itself around his heart in a gentle caress, slid through his blood and touched his lungs. It made him buoyant, like ice, so he'd never drown again, filled his lungs with the wind so he'd never lose his breath. The moon reached down ever so carefully and poured light into the spirit's eyes, light that could pierce through the darkest of nights. Even the sun reached down and gave him a gift, it fanned the flames of his soul until they burned almost as bright as itself.

Finally, Mother Nature came, with a light clutched tight in her hand. She stepped softly into his grave, kneeling beside him she slipped the light between the his lips. A frozen star had been her gift, it crawled deep into his stomach granting him the magic of the world. She looked upon her newest child, born of the moon, the earth and ice water. When he emerged from his grave, the moon shone down on the boy once more, for the man who lived upon the great star had a gift to give himself. Upon a moonbeam of the brightest silver, he sent down his gift. Two words that held more worth to a being that anything else in the world.

He gave the child a name, a name that would serve him for many years to come. Though known by few, it was a powerful name, a name that heralded the Death of the World. This spirit was not made to bring unfaltering peace, he was made to be a reminder, a symbol of nature itself. The danger of innocence was what he would exemplify, that the world though kind and beautiful could be ugly and bitter. A reminder was needed to protect them, and with these gifts a spirit was born. One of nature's shepherds, a keeper of death, and a guiding light. A _Guardian_.

* * *

_Wow, this is super short. I wrote this today after a spark of inspiration hit me in between classes so it's really short and doesn't want to get any bigger. I'll post some more stuff on Wednesday most likely, my writing buddies are gonna be by and we're going to brainstorm! As always it's lovely to hear from you my dears! Happy reading! Read and Review!_


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